Mind Games
by OriginalDeadman
Summary: Derek starts to have certain fantasies about a certain stepsister. What will he do when they start to reek havoc on his normal life? Dasey and mature themes/language involved.
1. Derek's Problem

A/N: Okay. Here's my first attempt at writing an "M" rated fanfic. Hope it turns out well and I hope that you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD or any of the characters. Oh well.

* * *

"Beautiful, aren't they?" the young brunette said as she snuggled up closer to her companion. The two had just laid there for hours in the grass, doing nothing but staring at the stars in the nighttime sky.

"Yeah, but not as beautiful as you" her companion said as he leaned in to plant a light kiss on her forehead.

"Der-ek" she whined, giving him a playful slap on the chest.

"What? It's true" He replied back.

"So, you think your charms are going to work on me?" she asked with a grin

He didn't get the chance to respond further before she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. After a couple of minutes, he broke the kiss. "We shouldn't really waste this moment." With that, he resumed kissing her with more passion. Running his hands up her side, he reaches underneath her shirt. Relishing the feel of her skin, he runs his hands across her toned stomach, then along her sides.

"Stop, Derek! That tickles!" she laughed out as his fingers traced over her sides.

"Can't help it. Your laugh is so adorable" he said as his hands slip around her back.

"Devil" she replied as his hands rub up and down her back.

"I'm your devil though" he says with a smile as, slowly but surely, he brings his hands back around to the front of her body and pushes up her bra.

"Mmmm. That feels so good" The girl responded as his hands begin to massage her breasts.

"Casey…" he let out as he planted kisses along the side of her neck.

"Mmm, Derek" she whispered into his ear.

* * *

"DER-EK!" her voice boomed as she shook him violently. This snapped Derek Venturi out of his slumber.

"WHAT?!" he yelled back as he shifted his body so that he glare into the eyes of his stepsister, Casey McDonald.

"Mom's almost got breakfast ready! Plus, I don't want to be late to school, since we've got that English test today!" Casey replied back.

Derek let out a long sigh. "Why do you have to be such a damn loser and care about lame-ass school so much?!" he snapped.

"Why do you have to be such a dumbass and try to make me feel so bad because you're stupid?!" she shot back.

"Oh, my. Don't tell me the princess has sunk as low as cursing?" he said in a smart-alleck manner.

"I wouldn't have to if I wasn't stuck under the same roof with you!"

"Cute. Now, how about leaving my room so that I can get ready" Derek said as he pointed to the bedroom door.

"Gladly" Casey snapped as she turned and headed out the door. As she disappeared down the hallway, Derek couldn't resist delivering a parting shot.

"Keener!"

Down the hall he could hear her yell out "Pig!"

'_Finally! I thought she would never leave!_' he thought to himself as he sat up in the bed and ran his hands through his hair. It was no secret that Derek liked girls more than anything in the world (including hockey and playing in his band D-Rock), but even he was unprepared for the thoughts and fantasies that began to overtake him recently. He usually wouldn't mind such fantasies. But why was he thinking about Casey? Casey McDonald! His annoying, klutzy, grade-grubbing, goody-two-shoes stepsister! That was practically incest, wasn't it? '_Ugh! It's too fucking early to be thinking about this!_' he though as he kicked the covers off of him and got up to find some clean clothes for the day.

* * *

After a usual breakfast – which involved Derek and Casey fussing at each other – both teens had made it to school in one piece. The first three class periods went by quickly for him. Unfortunately, fourth period rolled around.

"Damn English class." Derek muttered to himself as he walked into the classroom. He hated going to English for two reasons today. Reason 1: he had a test – which Derek always despises. Reason 2: it was one of the few classes that he had with Casey. The only thing that helped ease the "torment" in Derek's mind was that his friends, Sam and Ralph, were in the class with him.

"Yo, D-man, you ready for the test" Ralph asked as Derek walked to by his desk.

"Nope. You know better than to ask that" Derek replied back as he took his seat.

"Man, Coach is going to be pissed if you fail another class" Sam said from his seat behind Derek's.

"Coach won't do anything. He knows he needs me in the line-up if we're going to win conference this year."

"Maybe he'll come to his senses and bench you for being a lazy idiot" a female voice said a couple of seats in front of him. Derek rolled his eyes and tore the eraser off of one of his pencils.

"Mind your own business, Space Case" he said as he threw the eraser at her head.

"Hey!" Casey snapped as the eraser bounced off her head. She turned around to say something to him, but the sound of the teacher's voice cut her off.

"Okay class. Remember, do your best work and not cheating whatsoever" the teacher said as she passed out the papers to the class.

About 30 minutes into the test, Derek was already out of it. He had gotten through the problems that he knew (yes, he did pay attention once in a while), but was currently stuck on an open-response problem. Derek let out a groan as buried his head in his hands and closed his eyes, trying to think of a good enough answer to put down.

* * *

"Mr. Venturi?" a female voice snapped him to attention. He opened his eyes and looked around, only to notice that he was still in the classroom and that all of the other students had left. He currently found himself sitting in a seat at the front of the room.

"What the…"

"Mr. Venturi?" Derek whipped his head up to see Casey was standing in front of him. He immediately felt his jaw drop at her appearance. There she was, wearing a white blouse and a black skirt that only went halfway to her knees. Her hair was fixed up in a bun and she wore a pair of glasses that made her look a little more intelligent and, in Derek's opinion, more stunning.

"Yes…" was all he was able to croak out.

"What do you see here?" Casey asks as she leans over his desk and places a paper on his desk. Derek picks it up, noticing the big red F written on it. Lowering the paper, he stared again at Casey. This time, he noticed the top buttons of her blouse are undone, granting him a perfect view down her blouse at her breasts.

"Uh, two D's and an F?" he let out.

"Do you think this is funny, Mr. Venturi?" she said, leaning in closer to him. Derek was barely able to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Uh…no."

"Now, we can't have you making grades like this." She said as she took her glasses off. "You should be very, very fortunate that I'm taking time to provide you with private tutoring." Their lips were just centimeters apart. The scent of her perfume, the pink gloss on her lips was so intoxicating.

Finally, Derek couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing her face, he pressed his lips into hers. As they continued kissing, she eased her way around the desk and took a seat in his lap. Derek's hands roam freely over her body. Growing impatient, he ripped her blouse open. Throwing it to the side, he then began working on the bra blocking him access from her breasts.

"Mmmm. Mr. Venturi, I didn't know you had studied the works of forbidden love so thoroughly" she whispered into his ear. The bra soon came flying off as well. Derek trailed kisses all over her breasts as she began to grind her hips up and down against him.

* * *

A sharp pain shot through Derek's ribs, snapping him back into reality. Rubbing his side, he turned around and glared at Sam and his pencil.

"What the hell?" he mouthed to his friend.

"Sorry dude, but it looked like you fell asleep again." Sam whispered, trying hard not to draw the teacher's attention to them.

Derek let out a long, hard sigh. He quickly scribbled some answers down and got up out of his seat.

"Finished already, Mr. Venturi?" the teacher asked as Derek placed his paper on her desk.

"Yeah." He muttered. "May I be excused?" The teacher nodded her head. Derek immediately turned tail and headed out the classroom. Closing the door behind him, he hurried down the hall to the nearest bathroom. Leaning over one of the sinks, he turned on the cold water and splashed himself in the face. "What the hell is wrong with me?!" he asked out loud to himself. Looking up at the mirror, he was stunned by what he saw. Instead of his reflection, he saw Casey's face staring back at him in the mirror. She smiled sweetly and blew him a kiss. Franticly, he splashed more cold water on his face. When he looked back in the mirror, he saw his own bewildered reflection staring back this time.

'_I am so fucked!_' Derek thought as he looked at himself in the mirror.

* * *

Good? Bad? Don't give a rip?  
Don't forget to leave a review.

- the OD


	2. Not Helping the Situation

A/N: First of all, thanks for all of those that have reviewed, added this story to their alert lists, and stopped by to read it. Appreciate the support.

Hope you guys and girls enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own LWD or any of the characters (well, expect one that I made up for this chapter)

* * *

Derek had remained in the bathroom for what seemed like an eternity to him. No movement, no plots of mischief, just him staring into the bathroom mirror trying to figure what is going on in his head.

'_I can't take much more of this! I need to get all of this out of my head before it drives me to the loony bin!_'

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!! The sound of the bell for lunch snapped Derek out of his thoughts and back to reality.

'_Great! Maybe some lunch will help me start feeling better!_' Grabbing a couple of paper towels to dry his face off with, he quickly regained his composure and headed out of the bathroom.

"Yo, D-man!" a voice yelled as Derek exited the bathroom. He quickly turned to see Sam and Ralph coming down the hallway. In Ralph's hand was Derek's bookbag.

"Thanks." Derek muttered as he grabbed his books from Ralph.

"Hey man, you okay?" Sam asked.

"Why?"

"Well, you didn't look so good when you left the class."

"That. Wasn't feeling too great, but I'm better now. C'mon, let's get to the cafeteria before all the good food gets eaten." In a flash, Derek took off down the hallway, with Sam and Ralph on his heels.

* * *

After getting their trays and finding their usual seats in the cafeteria, Derek, Sam, and Ralph fell into the normal lunchtime routine of girls, hockey, and music. On this day in particular, the conversations were welcome to Derek. At least for a little while, they kept the thoughts in his head at bay.

"So, you guys up for a jam session tomorrow at my place?" Sam asked.

"You better believe it. We could use it, especially since we lost to Schlepper at the Battle of the Bands." Ralph chimed in.

"Sure." Was all Derek said. Mentally, he wanted to kick Ralph in the face for bringing that up because: 1) it reminded him of the embarrassment, and 2) it reminded him of when he asked Casey to be D-Rock's singer for that event. Derek decided to quickly change the subject before the 'evil' thoughts returned. "So, what's on for tonight?"

"Nothing for me, Derek. Practice has been killing me this week, so I'm taking tonight off." Sam said.

"Aw, c'mon! Dude, you're turning into a bitch!" Derek snapped at him. "What about you, Ralphie."

"Sorry man. I'm hanging out with Amanda tonight."

"Dude, I thought you two were just friends."

"We are, but she really insisted on us watching a movie together."

Derek let out a sigh. "You two are so lame. Guess I've got to find a back-up plan." Derek quickly scans the cafeteria.

'_Let's see. Goth – no thanks. Cindy – 5 times already. Redhead with freaky hairdo – hell no. Wait, wait, wait. Blond, cute face, and looks like a C cup dead ahead Captain!_' Derek quickly hops up and heads over to another table.

"Well, well, well. Hello, Derek." the blond girl at the table says as Derek takes a seat across from her.

"Hello, Tanya." He smirks. "So, I was…"

"You really expect me to fall for your charms. I've heard plenty about you." Tanya says, cutting him off.

"Well, we've got a problem. I've heard plenty about you two." Derek replies back in a calm manner.

"Oh really?" Tanya says, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Look Tanya, I'm sure there's been a lot of misinformation about you and me floating around out there. I'm sure if we could have a quiet dinner and a movie together, we could really get all the facts straight."

"Hmmmm…" Tanya thought it over while Derek gave her his patented smirk. After a moment, she replied. "Okay, Venturi. I don't know what you're up to, but I'll go along with it." She said.

"So, I'll pick you up at 7?"

"It's a date." She said with a smile as she grabbed her tray and walked off.

'_Sweet. Good thing what I've heard about her is true. Looks like I'll be getting some stress relief tonight_' Derek thought to himself with a grin.

"Oh my God! You are such a scumbag!" Derek rolled his eyes at Casey's comment and looked over a couple of seats down to where Casey and Emily were sitting.

"Butt out, Princess." Derek replied as calmly as possible.

"She's got a point. I mean, Tanya's the biggest sl…" Emily starts, but is cut off by Derek.

"Heard your points of view. Don't really care. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll be leaving."

"Gross." Casey said, sliding the keys to the Prince to Derek. "I think I'll take the bus home after school."

"Fine by me." Derek said as he grabbed the keys and left to go back to his friends.

* * *

(later that afternoon)

"Thank goodness for Fridays and short practices" Derek mutters to himself as he walks through the front door. He had a couple of hours before his date with Tanya and, judging from the looks of the house, nobody else was home. 'At least I'll have some time to myself before the date' he thought as he walked up the steps. As he walks through the hall, he heard a muffled sound in Casey's room. '_Casey's home?! I thought she would be at Emily's or something. Hmmmm…_' A sly grin spread across his face as he quietly set his bookbag and hockey bag down by his bedroom door. Grabbing a bottle of water from his bag, he took the cap off and went over to Casey's door. Ever so slowly, he turned the handle and cracked the door open, making no noises in the process (he had sneaking around in this house down to an art form). He leaned his head into the room, expecting Casey to be sitting at her desk and reading a book, unaware of the impending prank. Instead, what he found left him staring wide eyed and in disbelief.

There was Casey, on her bed, lying on her back. Her left hand was slid underneath her shirt, causing it to raise up enough to expose her toned stomach. Derek could see her hand moving around underneath the shirt, rubbing over one breast and then to the next. But what really got his attention was the sight of her blue jeans and panties slid down to her knees. Her right hand, meanwhile, was positioned between her legs.

'_HO-LY SHIT! HO-LY SHIT!_' was all that Derek could think as he watched the fingers from her hand slide in and out. He just stood there, lost in the sight of what was taking place. This was Casey! Casey, of all people! She was a keener, a goody-good! He never would have thought in a million years that she would do such a thing!

"Mmmmmm…." Casey let out before biting down on her lip again. She began to quicken the pace at which her hand was moving. Derek stared in awe as more moan escaped her lips and her hips started to rock with her hand movements.

'_Damn, this is so sexy. GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! WHAT AM I DOING?! THIS IS SO WRONG! I MEAN, IT'S CASEY, FOR GOD'S SAKE!'_ With every last ounce of will power he had, he managed to tear his eyes away from Casey and quietly close her door. He immediately looked down at the bulge that formed in his pants. '_Okay. Nothing a cold shower couldn't fix._'

* * *

'_Boy, was I wrong_.' Derek thought as he stood in the shower. Despite the cold water that was hitting his body, it did nothing to fix his current state. The sight of Casey masturbating was burned into his brain and his hard on wasn't going anywhere. He let out a loud sigh and switched the water over to hot. '_No sense in fighting a losing battle_.'

He hated having to resort to this – especially since he was supposed to fix this problem later on his date with Tanya. Resigning himself to his fate, he began to stroke the length of his shaft with his hand. As he did so, his eyes closed and another fantasy clouded his mind.

"_Der-ek! I saw you spying on me, you asshole!" Casey's voice sounded as she entered the bathroom._

"_You can't prove it" Derek said on the other side of the shower curtain._

"_Oh, yes I can." She said, snatching the shower curtain open. Derek noticed she was clad in only a towel. She then instinctively lowered her eyes down his body. "Oh, is that for little ol' me?" she asked in a seductive tone._

_Before Derek could reply, Casey dropped the towel to the floor and climbed into the shower with him._

"_Case, I…" Derek started before being cut off by Casey pressing a finger to his lips._

"_Shhhhh. Just let me take care of everything." She said before kissing his passionately. Breaking the kiss, she then knelt now in front of Derek._

"_Casey…" he moaned as he felt Casey's mouth wrap around him._

Derek's fantasy on fueled the speed that his hand moved along his shaft. All he could envision was Casey and being lost in the grips of passion with her. After a couple of minutes, he could feel the tension reaching its point.

"God, Casey." He moaned. Then, with a loud moan, he came, bracing himself against the shower wall with his other hand so he wouldn't lose balance. After he finished, he just stood there, letting the water from the shower run over him.

'_It's official – I'm beyond fucked. I'm walking a yellow brick road straight to hell's gates._' He thought as he finished his shower and dried off. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he exited the bathroom.

"Put some clothes on!" he heard as he entered the hall.

"You know, you don't have to stare if it disgusts you that bad." He shot back at Casey, who was standing outside her bedroom. He saw Casey face-fault for a brief second, then watched as she crossed her arms, pressed her lips together, and glared at him.

"You're right about one thing, Derek."

"What?"

"I do find you disgusting." She said as she pushed past Derek and heads downstairs.

"Well, just as long as you find me, my dear stepsister." He replied with a smug smile before heading into his room to finish preparing for his date.

* * *

Don't forget, constructive criticism always helps (in other words - leave a review)

Much love,  
- the OD


	3. Sweet Dreams

A/N: Finally...I got this one to come together. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic so far. So, without further ado, here's chapter 3.

Just a heads up to my devoted readers, I will be out of town later in the week to help my mother-in-law move to Kentucky, so I don't know when my next updates will be for "Mind Games" or "Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek Edition". If I don't have anything up by Wednesday, I will have something by the start of next week. Hope you will understand and give me patience.

Disclaimer: Don't own Life With Derek...judging from my fics, if I did, it wouldn't be on Disney because of content issues.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

(11 PM – Friday night)

'_Hmmm, a couple of lights are on. I wonder if Dad and Nora waited up for me._' Derek wondered as he pulled into the driveway and threw the Prince into park. Getting out of the car, he stretched his arms and legs out, trying to loosen out the excess tension. A cold breeze whipping through the night air told him it was time to head inside.

Derek eased the front door open, glancing around to see if anyone was in the living room. He didn't see anyone in the living room, but noticed that lights were on in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The sound of the TV also filled the otherwise silent room. Derek slid his leather jacket off, tossed it onto the coat rack, and made his way to his prized recliner.

'_Well, tonight didn't do exactly what I had hoped it would.' _he thought as he rubbed his temples and held his eyes closed. Dinner with Tanya went the way he expected. He could sense during the meal that Tanya would end up putting out that night if he played his cards right ('_Well, she does have a reputation of being a slut'_, he remembered thinking to himself). During the movie, they got so distracted by kissing and groping each other that all interest in the movie was lost. The date, as Derek predicted, ended in a rather intense session in a private part of town in the back of the Prince. At first, he had relished having Tanya throwing herself at him. They had practically ripped each other's clothes off and ravished each other. As they got into it, however, Derek's mind started playing tricks on him again. He soon found himself longing for Casey, wishing it was her and not Tanya he was having his way with. At one point, he swore that he saw Casey there in front of him instead of Tanya, screaming out his name in passion as he thrusted in and out of her.

'_I'm starting to think that I need professional help._' He finally opened his eyes and looked at what was on the TV. Ballet. "Ugh. Screw this garbage. I guess I'll watch a little bit of the Flames-Canucks game before I call it a night" he muttered to himself as he grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Derek bemoaned his bad luck as he turned his chair to the side so that he could see Casey, clad in her usual pink designed pajamas, standing behind the couch.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, Princess?" he asked with a smirk.

"Shouldn't you be getting a STD test after your date with Tanya? And don't call me Princess – I hate that." Casey said as she walked over to him. Derek noticed the sparkle in her eyes – that sparkle she got when she got angry at someone (which, 99 percent of the time, was him). He hated that sparkle in her eyes because it made her look even more beautiful.

"Ouch. Your words wound me." He replied sarcastically.

"Boo-hoo. Now give me the remote." she said as she reached for the remote.

"Nope." He said as he snatched it away from her reach.

"Der-ek!" she whined.

"Ca-sey!" he whined mockingly.

"Fine, we'll flip for it."

"Huh?"

"We'll flip a coin for it. You got one?" Derek reached into his pocket and grabbed a quarter.

"Heads or tails, Space Case?"

"Ummm….tails."

Derek tossed the coin into the air. It landed in the palm of his right hand. Quickly, he slapped the palm of his right hand over the top of his left hand. Removing his hands, he watched Casey's lips roll out. "Heads…looks like I win."

"Fine." She snapped. Grabbing a book off the coffee table, she flopped down on the couch. For several minutes, they just sat there in silence – Derek watching his hockey game and Casey reading her book. After a while, Casey glanced up from her book to notice that Derek wasn't paying attention to the game at all. He was looking down at his feet and rubbing his right hand against his temple. "You okay?"

"Hmm?" Derek murmured as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"I asked if you were okay. You looked like you were out of it, plus there was that little episode in English class." Casey said, with a hint of concern in her voice. Derek hated that hint of concern in her voice. Casey + concern = discussions about f-f-f-feelings about 99.999 percent of the time.

'_Well, I can't tell her what's really bothering me…you know, "Hey Casey, I think you're so beautiful and sexy that I want to fuck your brains out right here and now!" She hates me enough as it is.'_ Derek let out a sigh. "Coach has just been riding my ass more than usually this season - wants me to get my grades up. He even threatened to make me sit out the season opener against Michael Power/St. Joseph's. As many scouts would be at that game, it would kill me if I didn't play."

"Oh. Okay." was the only reply he got. Derek was glad that she bought it. It all wasn't entirely false – his coach did threaten to bench him for that game. Michael Power/St. Joseph's was one of the best teams all of Ontario. Everyone knew that college and pro scouts would be at a game involving this team. For Derek, it would give him a chance to shine on a grand stage and increase the likelihood of making it to the pros. Again, it was a legitimate worry, but for Derek, it paled in comparison to the "lusting over Casey" issue that he was dealing with.

Derek was brought back to reality by Casey again. "Maybe your coach is on to something. I mean, hockey won't be there for you forever."

"Great…leave it to you to try and make me think about grades." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Trust me, if you put as much effort into school as you did pranking me, your coach wouldn't be riding your ass, as you so eloquently put it." Hearing Casey say that last little bit actually made Derek laugh, since it was so out of character for her. This was one of the very, very, rare moments where he and Casey managed to get along. As soon as the laughter died down, both teens went back to their respective activities. 15 minutes later, Derek started to feel his eyelids getting heavy. He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

"Well, Space Case, I think I'm gonna…" Derek didn't finish, as he heard the sound of light snoring coming from the couch. He looked over and saw that Casey had fallen asleep. He got up and walked over to the kitchen, switching off the light. He did the same thing as he walked through the dining room. He went to turn off the lamp beside the couch, but stopped himself as he noticed how it illuminated her face. '_Hmmm…she looks like an angel like that._' Withdrawing his hand from the lamp switch, he grabbed the blanket on the back of the couch and spread it out over her sleeping form. Before he could even stop himself, he leaned down and placed a light kiss on top of Casey's head. "Good night, Space Case" Derek whispered. His brain finally registered what he was thinking. '_Okay, time to get out of here_.' he thought as he ran up the stairs to his room.

Physically and mentally, Derek was done for the day. Stripping of the shirt and jean he wore on his date, he crawled underneath the covers and closed his eyes. Hopefully, sleep would bring him the comfort that he desperately sought and would wipe away the events of today – the fantasies, the bathroom freak-out session, his revelation about Casey's private time, and the date with Tanya.

* * *

Derek cracked his eyes open. He found himself lying in a hospital bed.

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself as he looked around the room. '_Typical hospital – white walls, white sheets, dim lights, paper thin gowns for the patients…_' It was at that point, he heard the sound of the doorknob turning. He looked over to see that the door to his room was being opened slowly. Due to the lighting, it was still dark in that area of the room, meaning he couldn't recognize the person entering. "Who's there?" he asked, with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Hospitals tended to creep him out.

"Well, it's good to see our patient is awake finally." Derek felt every muscle in his body tense up at the voice. He could hear the seductive tone in it, practically sense the smile on the person's face, and – in an all-too-familiar occurrence for him – could recognize the person the voice belonged to.

"C-C-Casey?" he managed to get out.

"Hello, Derek." She greeted, walking into the room. As she walked into the light, Derek realized he was right about her smiling. She had a big, wide, toothy smile on her face – the same kind she got when she was happy or giddy about something. Derek also couldn't help but notice the clothing she was decked out in – white hat, white coat, white skirt. Traditional "nurse's fantasy" gear. "So, what seems to be the problem?" she asked him, leaning down beside Derek. This exposed a large of cleavage to the stunned teen in the bed.

"P-pr-problem?" he stuttered, trying very hard (but failing miserably) not to stare at the cleavage being shown to him.

"Of course, silly" she giggled. "I mean, you are in the hospital."

"Um…I have no idea why I'm here."

"Well then, I guess we will have to treat you for everything. Just to be safe."

"I'm no expert, but isn't it dangerous to treat people for something they don't have?"

Casey smiled. Derek felt the shivers run up and down his spine. "Not with the medicine I have prepared for you." With that she grabbed the hat off of the top of her head and tossed it to the side. Slowly, she undid the buttons on her jacket and slid it off.

"What the hell are you doing Case?!" Derek spat out. Casey responding by tugging downward on the skirt she was wearing, shimmying her hips as she tried to pull it down. Eventually, she succeeded and let the garment drop to the floor. Derek felt his jaw drop as he started at Casey. Her tanned skin, glowing smile, and the red bra and panties she was wearing were a sharp contrast to the room around them. She then climbed up into the bed with Derek, sitting in his lap. Without giving him much time to think about much else, she leaned down and kissed him.

Whatever logic or reason Derek could come up with for not doing this disappeared when Casey's lips connected to his. For a couple of minutes, they remained there kissing, their tongues battling for dominance. Derek reached his arms around her back, slowly rubbing them up her spine so that he could relish the feel of her skin. When he reached the clasp of her bra, on pure animal instinct, he undid it and pulled it off of her. The sight of her perfect breasts staring back at him was just too much to take. On impulse, he leaned forward and captured one nipple in her mouth and, with his right hand, found its way to her other breast. The sounds of the moans escaping her lips were enough to make him throw her down and take her right there. However, he decided against that course of action – he wanted her to enjoy this as much as he would.

"D-Derek" she moaned. He kept providing attention to the soft globes of flesh in front of him until she finally leaned away from him, panting heavily. Derek gave a look of disappointment until he felt her hand reach out and grab the hospital gown he was wearing. "My turn." She whispered in a feral tone just before she ripped the gown off of him with one hard pull. He felt himself about to say something, but was cut off again by her lips crashing into his. Breaking the kiss, she then began to move down his body, planting kisses and even licking his nipples for a short time. She quickly found herself bored with his upper body, however, and impatiently snatched the blankets away from his lower body to reveal the aching hard on beneath. She took it into her hand and stroked it gently. Derek let out a light groan and jerked his hips forward involuntarily. A sly smile graced her face as a thought entered into her head.

Derek's eyes snapped open in shock as he felt Casey take him into her mouth. The feel of her tongue swirling around the base of his head was incredible; the warmth of her mouth was nearly enough to make him lose it right there. "Oh God…Casey…" he let out in a ragged tone. Managing to open his eyes, he took in the sight of Casey, her head bobbing up and down as her lips slid effortlessly along his shaft. Unable to contain himself anymore, Derek let out a loud groan as he came. Casey refused to stop, continuing her actions until she knew he was finished. He could feel the muscles in her throat contracting as she swallowed. When she was finally finished, she leaned back, wiping away a drop of excess cum that was on her lips.

Having finally lost all control, Derek grabbed Casey by her hips and flipped her over onto the bed. She bent her legs as he hooked the sides of her panties and pulled them down. As he finished pulling them off and tossed them to the side, he was mesmerized by the sight of her, completely shaven. Not wanting to wait any longer, he knelt between her legs and ran his hands up her legs up to her toned stomach. Leaning into her, his lips and tongue glided along her entrance. He could feel Casey squirming as his tongue made repeated contact with her.

"Derek…please…" Casey begged. He ran his tongue over her clit, massaging and lashing at it. As he continued to do so, he took two of his fingers and slowly pushed them inside of her. The pace that his fingers moved was slow and tortuous at first, but they soon began to increase at a faster rhythm. Casey began to moan and shout loudly as Derek continued his lustful assault with his tongue and fingers. "Derek…I…I…" she let out as her hips rolled and bucked off of the bed, trying to force herself closer to Derek and his touch. He took her clit into his mouth and sucked on it harshly. Finally, Casey let out a loud scream as an orgasm racked her body, causing her body to shake uncontrollably. Derek lapped at the wetness that escaped from inside of her. Once her body relaxed again, she collapsed on the bed. She remained there for a while, trying to catch her breath and recovering from the experience. Derek sat down on the bed next to her, taking in the sight of her. Her face was flushed, her lips were swollen, and her chest heaved with each deep breath she took in. Casey looked down and noticed his erection had returned with full force. She sat back up and, after a brief series of short kisses, pushed him back onto the bed.

"Casey, please. I need you so badly." Derek begged as she straddled him.

"I know. I need you too." she replied in a husky tone as she inched herself onto him.

Derek let out a loud grunt as she eased down further on him. '_How could anything feel this good?_' he wondered as he finally slid all the way inside of her. That thought was immediately dispelled when she slowly started to rock her hips back and forth. Derek's hands found the soft flesh of her firm ass as she quickened the pace of her gyrations. This caused him to start thrusting as well, trying to keep pace with her movements.

"Fuck! You feel so incredible!" he yelled out.

"Don't stop! Oh…oh, yes!" she let out.

After a couple more minutes, Casey threw her head back, screaming his name as another orgasm spread through her body. The feeling of her spasms was enough to send Derek over the edge as well. He yelled out her name as she continued to gyrate against him. As he continued to shout his name, a blinding white light enveloped everything in the room…

* * *

Derek opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room, squinting. The sight was familiar but disappointing to him – he was back in his bedroom. No Casey, no nurse outfit, and a mess of cum in his boxers.

'_Hell of a way to start the day_' he thought to himself. That dream was beyond words – it had felt so real to him. The thought of it gave him goose bumps – the sight of her naked body, the feel of her skin against his, the sound of her screaming his name. He could swear that he could still hear it.

"Derek?"

"Shit" he muttered to himself. Casey was actually calling out his name. Out in the hallway, Casey was staring curiously at his bedroom door.

"Derek, are you okay? I heard you yell…" she said.

"Fuck" he let out beneath his breath. Did he actually yell out her name? "Yeah, I'm fine, Space Case. I…I just stepped on a broken CD case."

Casey bit her lip nervously. "O-okay. Mom wanted me to let you know that breakfast is ready."

"I'll be down in a few minutes." He answered. He listened to her footsteps as they moved away from his room. He let out a long sigh. '_I'm being punished - aren't I, God?!_'

Casey, meanwhile, wore a confused look on her face as she headed for the stairs. "I could've sworn…was Derek screaming my name?" she asked to herself.

* * *

(cue the dramatic cliffhanger music) So, what do you think about that?

Also, a lot of ya'll probably think I'm a sadist because I'm putting Derek through hell right now in this story. I had one review wanting Derek to just give in to the temptation already.

Keep those review coming - otherwise I won't know when I'm screwing up.  
- the OD


	4. Unwelcome Revelation

A/N: Finally! Sorry for the long wait everyone. I actually had a chunk of this finished before I went out of town, but just couldn't get it done and up before that point. The last bit got a little rushed because I'm trying to get this up before I head off for a job interview, so if you notice anything out of place or totally messed up - or if it just completely sucks - , let me know and I will rewrite and repost the chapter ASAP.

Also, I won't update this story until I do the final chapter for "Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek Edition", so probably end of this week/start of next week will be the next update. Thanks to everyone who is supporting this story so far.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD.

Now, on with the show.

* * *

After getting a shower and finding some clean clothes (or at least some that looked clean), Derek decided he was finally ready to go downstairs and get a start to his day. He was glad it was Saturday and even more so for the fact he was supposed to go over to Sam's house. '_Hopefully, a chance to hang out with the guys today will help clear my head_' he thought as he rushed down the stairs.

"Morning, son" George said as he was gathering up some papers.

"Hey Dad" Derek replied as he entered the dining room. "So, got to go to the office this morning?"

"Yeah. Have to get some documents together for court next week. So, how did your date go last night?"

"It was okay, I guess. Don't work too hard."

"I'll try not to." With that, George closed up his briefcase and headed for the door.

After his father left, Derek continued his quest to the kitchen. As he walked through the door, he noticed the younger kids were finishing up breakfast. Nora and Casey were beginning to clean up the kitchen. Derek noticed a big stack of chocolate chip pancakes sitting on a plate in the middle of the island. '_My favorite! Thank goodness, I'm starving!_' he though as he took a seat at the island. "Ed, syrup, now!" he barked out to younger brother. Edwin managed to hide an eye roll as he got up and headed to the refrigerator to retrieve the syrup.

"You know Derek, God gave you two hands and two feet for a reason." Casey snapped as she dried off a plate.

"I know. I'm still trying to figure out the reason he gave you a mouth." Derek shot back. He let out a laugh as Casey glared at him and tossed the dish towel at his head. "You missed" he stated coolly as the towel sailed by his head, barely missing him. Edwin set the syrup bottle down beside him and Derek commenced to stuff his face.

"Eww, gross." Lizzie said as Derek shoveled a giant forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

"Don't wanna watch, then don't look" Derek said, pointing to the kitchen door.

"Derek. Be nice" Nora scolded as the younger kids got up and left the room.

"What? I was just stating a fact" Derek replied before shoveling another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

"Well, you didn't have to be a jerk about it." Casey whined before she and Nora turned back around to continue cleaning the dishes. With their backs turn, Derek stuck the middle finger on his left hand up at them before he looked down to his pancakes. As he was gathering another forkful, he felt another dishtowel hit him in the head. He snapped his eyes up to notice Casey glaring back at him. Derek dropped the finger and finished off the last bit of his breakfast.

"Nora, I must say you did a fantastic job with breakfast this morning" he said as he squeezed between Nora and Casey to place his plate in the sink.

"You should be thanking Casey."

"Huh?"

"She was the one that fixed breakfast this morning" Nora stated with a grin.

Derek glanced over at Casey with a stunned look on his face. Casey gave him a half grin, although he could tell by the look in her eye that she was laughing her ass off at him on the inside. '_Of course she did. Thanks karma_' he thought as he rolled his eyes and turned to leave the kitchen.

* * *

(15 minutes later)

Derek bolted down the steps, guitar and amplifier in hand. Reaching the bottom step, he found his progress to the front door being stop by Casey.

"Where are you going?"

"Sam wanted me and Ralph to…"

"Ralph and me" she corrected him.

"Whatever. Anyway, he wanted to hang out and maybe have a little jam session."

"Why wasn't I invited?" she whined.

"Because, D-Rock is our band. You made only one guest appearance, and we decided to go back to our manly rocking roots."

"Whatever." Casey said as she rolled her eyes.

"Later."

"Smerek?" Derek paused to notice Marti standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Uh, hey Smarti" Derek said.

"I thought you were going to stay home and play with me?" Marti whined.

Derek saw the sad puppy dog look forming on her face. He immediately set his stuff down and walked over to her. "I'll be back later. You save up a special game, and I promise I'll play with you when I get home."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now, I do have a problem though."

"What's that Smerek?"

"I can't leave without my special Smarti Smug." Marti let out a laugh as Derek scooped her up into his arms. After a moment, he set Marti back down and watched as she bounded up the stairs. '_Cute kid. Too bad she's going to be a complete devil like me when she's older_' he thought. He then glanced over at Casey to notice a huge smile gracing her face. "What?"

"I really wish I had a video camera so I can show the school how much of a softie you are" she replied.

"Uh, no I'm not."

"That little episode with Marti really doesn't help your argument."

"At least I still the whole 'giving you shit' thing to fall back on" he replied back with a smug grin.

"And I got the 'placing a blanket over me while I was asleep on the couch last night' thing to fall back on myself" she said, mirroring his grin.

'_Note to self – no more nice stuff. I don't need her getting more suspicions_' he thought as his grin faltered a little bit. "The only reason I did that is because I didn't want to hear you whining about me being the reason you caught a cold. I mean, it's bad enough you tried to blame me for a sprained ankle."

"Sure. Whatever you have to tell yourself, Venturi. And by the way…"

'_Shit_' he thought to himself.

"Why were you yelling my name this morning?"

'_Fuck_' he thought again. Good thing he was the Lord of the Lies and had time to prepare one as he took his shower this morning. "I told you…I stepped on a CD case. One that got knocked on the floor the other day when you barged into my room without permission."

"Der-ek!" she huffed at his accusation.

Derek just smirked as he picked up his belonging and headed for the door. Good thing for him that Casey was also gullible.

* * *

(4:30 P.M. – Sam's house)

Derek was so glad that for entire day hanging out with his friends. After several hours of jam sessions and street hockey, he found himself with Sam and Ralph in a nonstop robin-robin tournament of playing Babe Raider.

"Dude, that sucks" Ralph blurted out as he threw the controller down.

"The King of Babe Raider wins again" Sam gloated.

"We'll see about that" Derek said as he hopped into Ralph's place and grab the controller.

"Anybody up for some snacks?" Ralph asked.

"Lots of sugar and lots of caffeine?" Derek asked.

"Is there any other kind?" Sam and Derek grinned at Ralph's question. No wonder they had all been friends for so long. As soon as Ralph left the room, Sam and Derek started up another round of Babe Raider. Sam had established that he was one of the, if not the best, video game players around. That still didn't stop Derek from going into psycho mode when it came to playing against or talking smack with Sam – which he was able to back up from time to time.

(5 minutes later)

"Ha-ha. You missed, Venturi."

"Bullshit, that was a give-me."

"Face it dude, you're losing your edge."

"That's what you think." Derek began mashing buttons furiously.

"Wait, is that the…?"

"Oh yes." Derek said with a smug grin.

"Damn it! How were you able to unlock the Excalibur Blade already?!"

"Sam my boy, a true master never reveals his secrets." Derek said as he pressed a button to attack. Unfortunately for him, he didn't notice Sam quietly punching in a code combination of his own. "Hey, what the …?!" Derek started as the sword disappeared from his character's hands.

"Looking for this?" Sam asked with a smirk as his character now held the sword that Derek held previously.

"Oooo…you bastard!" Derek said as Sam pressed his last button. With a bright flash and a swing of the blade, Sam's character blasted Derek's away.

"Yes! The King of Babe Raider wins again!" Sam gloated. As he danced around the room, Derek stared at the screen, holding his hands over his mouth. Before he could even realize it, another fantasy had entered his head at the most inopportune time.

_Derek found himself running through the corridors an ancient temple. Periodically, he would turn back to fire more rounds from his handgun. Taking a right through the dark tunnel, he soon found himself in a large room, lit only by the moonlight and a few torches around the perimeter of the room. In the middle of the room was a long, elevated slab of stone – probably once used as an altar for sacrifices or something._

"_Whew, that was close." he let out between breaths. Suddenly, a figure dropped onto the altar. Derek immediately lifted his pistol up and pulled the trigger. Nothing. "Damn! Out of ammo!" he said as he took a couple of steps backward. "How could this get any worse?" He was soon answered by the sight and sound of a large stone door closing automatically, sealing off the only reachable exit from the room. "Just great" he muttered sarcastically. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab him from behind and throw him to the ground. Trying to block out the pain, he looks up through squinted eyes at the shadowy figure._

_A loud noise caused the figure to turn its head away from Derek and toward the altar. Derek slowly turned his head to see another person standing on the same altar that the figure landed on earlier. Female, long hair, skin tight black tank top and pants, and leather boots. Babe Raider has come to kick some ass. The figure immediately moved away from Derek and toward the altar, only to be met with a flying kick from her. The figure stumbled backward, trying to regain its balance, only to be greeted by a flurry of punches and kicks from Babe Raider. As the figure collapsed to its knees, she delivered another kick to its head, putting the figure down for good._

"_Well, looks like you need to be more careful running through temples by yourself" the lady said as she walked over to Derek and offered a hand to him. With the way the light shone in the room, Derek could now see the face of the heroine._

"_I suppose thanks are in order for saving my ass there, Casey." He replied with a half-hearted grin as she helped him to his feet._

"_I suppose you're right" she said with a seductive smile before leaning in to kiss him._

"_I thought I was supposed to be thanking you" Derek said between kisses._

"_You are. Besides, I should also be thanking you for helping me defeat the Alien Visigoths_" _she answers. Derek's eyes grow wide as she grabs the bottom of her tank top and pulls it up over her head, revealing her breasts in the dim light of the room._

"_Wow. You are the King of Babes." Derek said with a huge grin._

"_That's Queen of Babes." Casey corrected before pressing back into him with another kiss._

"Hello! Earth to Derek!" Sam was right in Derek's face waving his hands frantically.

"Huh? What? Oh…sorry." Derek muttered as he finally snapped back to reality.

"Dude, are you okay? You were zoned out for a while." Sam then looked over at the screen, where his Babe Raider character was still on the screen. "Dude, you don't get laid enough? Do I need to get you a paper towel and leave you alone with Babe Raider for a couple of minutes?"

"No, no. I…I was just thinking about a girl I met one time that was dressed up as her."

"Cute girl?"

"Yeah. The outfit made her look even better."

"There's something funny about that." Sam said. Derek gave him a questioning look. "You don't go to conventions or anything, so you must do a lot of browsing on the web or ran into her at a store. I mean, the only girl we've ever met that dressed up in that outfit was …" He didn't even finish his sentence before the thought entered his head. Sam went wide eyed and stared at Derek in disbelief.

"Dude, what the hell?" Derek asked.

"The only person you've ever met that dressed as Babe Raider was Casey!" Sam blurted out. It was now Derek's turn to go wide eyed at Sam's revelation.

'_Shit!_' he thought. Derek realized that now, he was royally screwed. This was Sam – his best friend, Casey's ex-boyfriend, the smart one in his group of friends. How could he have made that big of a blunder in this situation? "Sam, no…"

"Oh!"

"Sam, don't!"

"My!"

"Quit acting like a girl!"

"God!"

"It's not what you think!"

"You have a thing for Casey!" As soon as the words left Sam's mouth, Derek tackled him to the ground and placed a hand over his mouth.

"Shhhhh! Are you insane?!"

"Dude, you have a thing for Casey?" Derek snapped his head up and turned to the door. Ralph was just standing there, holding the snacks he went to get and sporting his usual goofy grin.

"No I don't!" Derek protested.

"Yes he does!" Sam shouted out, now free from Derek's grasp.

"Sam, you're just now figuring it out?" Ralph asked.

"Huh?!" Derek and Sam responded in shock.

"I mean it's pretty obvious." Ralph stated before taking a sip from a bottle of Coke.

"Excuse me." Derek huffed as he pushed by Ralph and ran down the stairs. Sam and Ralph stood quietly as the footsteps got farther away and the sound of the front door could be heard opening and closing.

"How did you figure it out?" Sam finally asked Ralph.

"I dunno. I guess it was just obvious by the way they act toward each other. They remind me of my grandparents. You?" Ralph replied.

"He just told me the Babe Raider girl reminded him of a cute girl he saw dressed up like that before."

"So?"

"So – who is the only person we know that dressed up in a Babe Raider outfit?"

It took Ralph a few seconds to process the information, but it finally dawned on him. "Oh." After that, another brief period of silence fell upon the room.

"So, do you think that he…?" Sam started before a loud yell from outside the house cut him off.

"FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!" could be heard from outside the house. Sam and Ralph both stared at each other at the loudness of Derek's voice. They then heard the sound of the front door opening and footsteps heading back up the stairs. "I feel better now." Derek said as he brushed past both of them. "Well, today has been great, but I've really got to get…"

"You're not going anywhere man." Sam said as he quickly slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Yeah, we've got to know the details about this." Ralph added, taking a bite out of one of the cookies he brought up.

Derek stared at his two best friends with a look of horror. They didn't have angry or disgusted looks on their faces, but he could tell by looking into their eyes that they were going to pick him apart with questions. He could already hear the who, what, when, where, how, and whys ringing in his ears.

'_I wonder if this is how a man feels when facing a firing squad_' he thought to himself as he took in a deep breath.

* * *

A/N: Uh-oh! Somebody has found out Derek's secret! How will our hero react! Guess you'll have to stay tuned for the next chapter. :D

Also, hope you enjoy the references to the Babe Raider episode. Didn't think I would do the story justice if that episode didn't have some influence on Derek's thoughts.

- the OD


	5. More Questions Than Answers

A/N: Sorry for the long delay folks. Things around my place have been crazy lately, with some family issues and trying to study for an insurance agent's course. Also, I wanted to get "Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek Edition" completed before I returned back to this story. Hopefully, I'll be able to devote time to a few more chapters or actually complete this before I start writing the sequel to "WLIIA: LWD Edition". Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD. Nope. Nothing.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

Derek paced back and forth furious, trying to put the words together. This had gone on for several minutes. He was trying to force himself to come up with a logical way to explain his current predicament to Sam and Ralph. All it was getting him right now was a headache. His two friends, meanwhile, just sat on the edge of Sam's bed and watched the display of their best friend freaking out like they had never seen him do ever before.

"Dude, you're going to pace a hole in my floor" Sam said, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, excuse me" Derek replied sarcastically as he stopped pacing and stared at his friends.

"We don't care about watching you pace around the room. We want to know exactly how all of this started" Ralph said.

"That's what I'm trying to get to. I just don't know how to say it in a way that will make sense" Derek snapped back. The frustration in his voice was very noticeable.

"Just start from the beginning" Sam said. "How did this all start?"

Derek took in a deep breath. "It started when I first saw Casey." Sam and Ralph both stared at him wide-eyed and slacked-jawed. "Look, it wasn't anything that bad. I mean, she definitely stood out the first time I met her."

"How?" Sam asked, nervously.

"Because she was wearing her freakin' school uniform from Toronto – that's how." To say that Derek was on edge was an understatement. "I mean, I thought she looked cute it in." Sam and Ralph just continued to stare at Derek in light of this revelation.

"But dude, remember in the cafeteria, when you had me pretend to be you when we first met her …" Ralph said.

"Yes, I remember. That's what I told myself so that I wouldn't do what I usually do." Derek said with a hint of annoyance. '_Why does Ralph have to remember __that_?' he thought.

"Doing what?" Ralph asked. Derek shook his head at his friend's stupidity. Sam just glanced over at Ralph and gave him a "you know" glance. Finally, Ralph figured out what Derek meant. "Oh."

"If that's the case, then what happened?"

"I don't know!" Derek exclaimed, holding his head in his hands. "That defense worked for a good while. All I know, it started about a year after the McDonalds had moved in! I started having dreams about Casey, then I started having thoughts about her!"

"Thoughts?" Sam questioned.

"Dreams?" Ralph added.

"Yeah." Derek replied in a more subdued tone. "I would end up having some dream, thought, or fantasy about her that would either end or would end with the two of us fucking like rabbits."

"How often do they happen?" Ralph asked, showing a hint of interest that was just a little too obvious.

"When they first started happening, they were very, very rare. Unfortunately, for me, they're starting to occur more often and at very bad times."

Sam and Ralph sat there and processed this newfound information for a minute. Sam happened to be the first one to realize something. "So yesterday in class, when you zoned out during the test, were you…?"

Derek nodded his head before Sam could even finish the question.

"And, when you asked out Tanya yesterday at lunch, it was to provide you with some sexual relief?" Ralph added.

Derek nodded again. He figured it was best to leave out that it didn't quite work and that he imagined he was having sex with Casey during it.

"And when you zoned out staring at Bade Raider…" Sam didn't even have to finish the question.

Derek still nodded.

"Dude, you've got to tell her." Sam said.

Derek's head immediately shot up, eyes wide in fear. "No! I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"If I were to tell Casey that, everything in my life would be headed for a disaster of biblical proportions!"

"What do you mean, 'biblical'?" Sam asked.

"What I mean is Old Testament, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!" Derek exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, we got it" Ralph said.

"Dude, you're just being overdramatic" Sam added.

"I'm not being overdramatic. I'm just thinking about the consequences of what would happen if I told people. Dad would probably disown me, Nora and the kids would think I'm either a sick pervert or just flat out insane, everyone at school would probably think the same thing Nora and the kids think. I'll lose my social status, wind up on the streets …"

"Derek, stop with the dramatics. You're acting worse than a girl" Sam said.

"Keep going. I rather enjoy it." Ralph states with a huge grin.

"Shut up Ralph!" Derek and Sam said simultaneously.

"Look, if it's the people at school you're worried about – screw 'em. Their opinions aren't going to matter if you're in love with…" Sam's last sentence was cut off by Derek.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…back it up. Did you just say love?"

"Yeah, if you love her, why should it matter what people at school think?"

"First of all, I don't love her. The dreams and stuff aren't romantic professions of feelings, they're just straight up fucking in them. Second of all, she's my stepsister. We're family! People are going to view me as an incestuous freak! Even Ralph would agree with me on that!"

"No I wouldn't."

Derek stared at Ralph in disbelief. "But that day in the cafeteria, when I said that stuff to you…!"

"Yeah, I was a little freaked at first. But it's you and Casey. In a way, the grossness doesn't seem to apply to that."

Derek then stared at Sam. "And you – you're Casey's ex! Shouldn't you want to kick my ass on top of the disgust of the situation?!"

"Dude, Casey and I are just friends now. And I agree with Ralph about the grossness factor not applying. And you've been my best friend since kindergarten. If going after Casey is what will make you happy, I'm all for it."

Derek stared at his friends in disbelief. They were fine with this revelation? They were encouraging him to act on his thoughts? '_Christopher Titus was right. The people that truly love you can truly be a pain in the ass_.' He took a deep breath to regain this composure. "Okay, we're forgetting one key thing to all of this…"

"What?" Ralph asked, again showing way too much interest in the subject.

"It's Casey! I give her hell on a daily basis! She thinks I hate her guts, and she probably hates me just as much, if not more! I can't tell her that – 'Hey Case, I think you're very pretty and I want to fuck your brains out!' Hell, she might snap – eyes turn yellow, speaking Latin backwards, and shove a kitchen knife up my ass!"

"Dude…" Sam tried to interject.

"Look, all I'm saying is there is no way this can happen."

"Man, this isn't going to be good for you. If you love her…"

Derek cut Ralph off. "Look, it's all just my mind playing some sick trick on me. I don't love her."

"You can try to convince us all you want, but you're going to have to face this sooner or later." Sam said.

Derek shook his head at Sam's statement. "Well, I've got to get going. I promised Marti I would spend some time with her" he said as he grabbed his coat and headed for the bedroom door.

"Hey man, you know where here for you." Ralph said as Derek walked out the door. Derek looked back and gave a half-grin before closing the door behind him.

Sam shook his head. "God, why couldn't I have normal friends?" he muttered under his breath.

* * *

(9:30 P.M. - M/V house)

After Derek got home, Casey was more than glad to give Marti to him. Although she loved Marti like a little sister, having to play and keep up with her all day long was just a little too much for Casey. Derek later discovered that Casey had been invited to a party by Max, who she was currently smitten with at the moment, and was waiting desperately for Derek to get home so that she could get ready. '_Probably some lame ass party with a bunch of dumb football jocks. Besides, not really in a partying mood tonight_' he thought as Marti had grabbed his hand and rattled off all the things that she wanted to play. After a game of Twister that also involved Lizzie and Edwin, watching "Beauty and the Beast", followed by a family dinner of pizza, a game of princess dress-up, and a couple of games of Candy Land and Sorry, Marti was physically done for the night.

"Okay, Smarti, time for bed." Derek said while putting up the last of the games as his little sister tried to stifle a yawn.

"But I'm not tired yet." Marti said before letting out another yawn.

"Nice try, kiddo. I'm going to have to teach you the fine art of lying one day." Derek said as he scooped Marti up and took her to her room. "Good night, Smarti" he says as he places her on the bed.

"Good night, Smerek" she replies. She then notices Derek rubbing his temples. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got some things on my mind."

"What kind of things."

"Well, there's this girl that I keep thinking about a lot lately..." Mentally, Derek wanted to kick himself. Unfortunately for him, Marti was one of the very few people that he couldn't lie to.

"Do you like her?"

Derek was caught off-guard by Marti's question. "I don't like her, but for some reason, I can't stop thinking about her."

"If you don't like her, then why are you thinking about her so much?"

"Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm also trying to figure out why you're not asleep yet" he said before he started to tickle her. After a few moments, Derek stopped his tickling assault and Marti's eyes started to droop. Derek took this as his sign to leave, cutting off the light on his way out the door. Walking back downstairs, he went to the kitchen. He grabbed a soda and some slices of pizza left over from dinner and headed back into the living room. Taking a seat in his recliner, he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, quickly flipping it to a hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers. As he consumed his food and watched the game in silence, the only thing he could focus on was Marti's question replaying in his head. '_If you don't like her, then why are you thinking about her so much_?"

* * *

A/N: Again, hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Don't forget to review.  
- the OD


	6. When The Walls Come Crashing Down

A/N: Okay, new chapter! In some of the reviews for the last chapter, some of you seemed bummed out that Derek didn't have any of his dreams/fantasies - they have returned for this chapter. When I wrote chapter five, I had no intention of there being a dream or fantasy - I wanted to have a fantasy-free chapter where Derek was trying to sort out everything. There will be some chapters that are like that, but there will still be fantasies/dreams occurring during the story. Also, appreciate the people that enjoyed the Derek/Marti moment at the end of that chapter - that was actually a last minute, on-the-fly addition I put on before saving and uploading it.

Also want to mention how old you guys really made me feel last chapter - nobody noticed the 'Ghostbusters' quote that Derek said. God, I'm getting old (shakes head and sighs). Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Didn't mention this earlier, but in the LWD timeline, the events of this story are occurring during the end of Season 2/start of Season 3, before Casey and Max got real serious and before Derek and Sally met. So, if things appear to be off in that aspect, forgive me.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD - otherwise, we would know who Derek and Casey ended with during Season 4. Only one character in this chapter is mine.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

(10:45 P.M.)

Derek switched off the TV as the Maple Leafs – Rangers game ended. Truth be known, Derek couldn't even tell you who won (which was very rare for him). He had spent the whole time thinking about what Sam, Ralph, and Marti had told him instead on cheering on his beloved Maple Leafs. He had tried to wrap a logical reason as to why he would be having the thoughts he did about Casey. The sound of the phone ringing snapped him out of his current state of mind.

"McDonald/Venturi residence" Derek mumbled into the phone. Seriously, who called his house this late on a Saturday night?

"Derek." Derek feels his body go rigid at the sound of Casey's voice. He could tell by the sound of Casey's voice that she was on the verge of tears.

"You okay?"

"No. I'm still at the party, but there are a couple of guys harassing me and I can't find Max anywhere. Can you please come get me?" Derek could tell that Casey had now lost her composure and was crying freely.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Where's the party at?"

"On Maple Street. Please hurry Derek" Casey sobbed on the other end of the line.

"I'll be there soon" Derek said before hanging up the phone. Grabbing his keys and his coat, he hurried out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

(11:08 P.M.)

Derek threw the car in park and quickly got out, holding a hockey stick he had left in the car. Derek knew from previous experience that anything could break out at a party. It never hurt to have a little back-up if there was a possibility of the shit hitting the fan. Running into the house, he started to make his way through the crowd of dancing teens. After a moment, he noticed Max standing in a corner with a couple of his football teammates.

"Max!" he yelled out. This got Max's attention. Max started to walk toward him, but Derek immediately grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"Derek! What the hell?!"

"Where's Casey?" Derek growled.

"She went to the bathroom a while ago. Haven't seen her since. Why?"

"Because she called me crying, saying that some guys were messing with her."

"Oh, don't worry! Monster Mac said he would keep her company!" some drunk guy that overheard the conversation yelled out. Max and Derek both went wide-eyed. Jason MacArthur (aka – Monster Mac), a lineman on the football team over at Thames Secondary School, was notorious for trying to go after girls at parties, whether the girl was willing or not.

"Damn!" Max let out. Derek and Max knew him very well, and both knew that this meant trouble. "I'll look upstairs, Venturi. You see if they are down here or outside anywhere." Max let out. Both teens split up, with Derek searching through the crowd and Max running upstairs. Derek made his way back through the crowd, trying to see if he could spot Casey anywhere. As he made his way outside, he could faintly hear someone screaming. Running around the corner of the house, he saw what was causing the commotion.

"Let go of me, you creep!" he heard Casey's voice yell out, trying to get out of the person's grasp.

"Come on now. You're too pretty to be putting up such a fight." Jason said.

"Max! Someone! Help!"

"Don't worry. My boys have him distracted so that he won't interrupt the fun we're going to have." He said as he tried to lean in and kiss her.

Derek had stood there for a few seconds, but to him, it seemed like an eternity. It was long enough for him to feel a blind rage overtake him.

Casey felt the grip around him release as Jason let out a loud scream. Jason, staggering and holding his neck, turned just in time to see Derek slam the hockey stick right in his face. Holding his face and dropping to his knees, Jason had the unfortunate privilege of Derek striking him again upside the head. As soon he hit the ground, Derek was on top of him, punching and kicking for all it was worth.

"Derek!" Casey let out as she grabbed him. This snapped him out of his blind rage, causing him to focus his attention on her and not on the guy lying down on the ground in pain. Tears were falling freely from her eyes.

"You alright? He didn't…"

She shook her head. "I just want to go home" she sobbed, her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Come on, let's go" he said. As they walked back around the front of the house to Derek's car, Max ran out the front door.

"Casey?! Oh, thank God!" he shouted as he ran off the porch to join Derek and Casey. "Jason, he didn't…"

Casey shook her head. "No. Derek showed up and stopped him."

Max turned to Derek to thank him. It was at that point he noticed the look in Derek's eyes and saw his hands were shaking uncontrollably. "You okay?" Derek didn't say anything, but just shook his head. "Okay, give me your keys." Derek and Casey looked at him confused. "Look, neither of you are in good enough shape to drive. I'll drive you two back home, then I'll have someone come get me so I can come back and get my car, okay?" Neither member of the MacDonald/Venturi household was willing to argue. Derek reached into his pocket and tossed Max the keys to the Prince.

* * *

(11:33 P.M.)

The car ride back home had been the most quiet car ride Derek had experienced, minus the occasional sob from Casey or the phone call Max made to one of his friends to come pick him up. As they pulled into the driveway and exited the car, Max stopped Casey.

"Casey, I'm so sorry about what happened. I should've been with you the whole time."

"Max, it's not your fault."

"I should've been more careful. I mean…"

"Max." Casey cut him off. "It's not your fault, okay?" she said, giving a weak grin to try and reassure him. Max just slowly nodded. The sound of a car horn from the end of the driveway interrupted them. Max's friend had arrived. "You be careful when you get back over there, okay."

"Okay Casey, I will." Casey gave Max a quick hug before turning around and walking toward the front door. As Max turned around, he noticed that Derek hadn't moved once he got out of the car. His hands were still shaking violently.

"Derek, man…"

"I could've killed that son of a bitch."

"Hey…"

"I was so fucking pissed when I saw that guy. If Casey, hadn't grabbed me, I swear…"

Max walked over to Derek and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have taken her to that party."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know that asshole and his buddies were going to be there to cause trouble."

Max just let out a sigh. Neither one of them was going to let Max blame himself for this. "Well, anyway, thanks for helping Casey out."

"No problem."

"And of the record, I really wish I had saw you beat the shit out of that sorry bastard."

Derek watched Max walk off and hop into his friend's car. As they pulled off, Derek figured it was best to go inside and get his nerves calmed down. Walking back into the house, he immediately headed up the stairs toward his room. Right before he walked through his door, he paused. Maybe he should check on Casey first before calling it a night. As he opened the door, he saw Casey just sitting there on her bed, staring down at the floor.

"Hey, you okay Princess" he hoped the princess comment would generate a response. Nothing. Against his better judgment, he walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "Case…"

At that point Casey lost it. She began to cry uncontrollably. Derek hated tears more than anything in the world, but he figured now was not the best time to run out of the room.

"Case, it's…"

"I was…so scared…he…he…wouldn't let me go…and I couldn't find Max…and…and…" Casey let out between sobs.

"Shhh, it's okay" Derek said, placing a hand on her back. Comforting wasn't really his thing, but he really didn't want to wake up anybody else in the house right now.

Before Derek knew it, Casey flung her arms around his neck and was now crying into his jacket. Derek tensed up for a moment – hugs were another thing he just didn't do, especially with Casey. Again, not a typical situation. Derek uneasily wrapped an arm around her. "Thanks Derek, for being there for me."

"Uh, no problem."

Derek continued to stay there, allowing Casey to just let it all out. After several minutes, he noticed that the crying had stopped and that some light snoring was coming from her. Derek tried to get up, but felt the grip around him tighten as he shifted. '_Okay, doesn't look like I'm going anywhere anytime soon_' he thought. As he sat there, he felt his eyelids grow heavy as well. '_Looks like Casey's not the only one drained after tonight's events_' he thought as his eyelids slowly fell shut.

* * *

Derek woke up lying on Casey's bed. '_How the hell, did I…oh, right_' he thought as last night's events came back to him. He looked down to notice that Casey still had her arms draped around him. He looked over at the clock. 4:27 A.M. '_Well, guess now is as good a time as any to head on back to my room_' he thought as he tried to get up.

Casey's arms immediately tightened around him. He looked down and saw her staring at him, sleep still evident in her eyes. "Please don't go."

"But Case…"

"Please don't" she pleaded. "Stay here with me. Please." Derek noticed the hint of need in her voice. Slowly, he laid back down on the bed.

"Case…"

"Derek, promise me you won't ever leave me" she whispered. All Derek could do was stare into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity for he could say anything.

"I won't Casey" he said. Leaning in slowly, he placed his lips on Casey's. He was pretty sure she would scream at him, slap him, call him a freak, or a combination of the three. Neither one happened as Casey gave in to the kiss. Both teens kissed for several minutes. Derek slowly slid his hands underneath Casey's shirt, rubbing them up and down her back. She had slid her hands underneath his shirt as well, running them across his stomach and chest. Before he could even register what was happening, Casey had removed his jacket and shirt. He started to remove her shirt as well. Before they went any farther, he stopped.

"Case…are you sure? I mean…this is me and…?"

Casey nodded her head. "I love you, Derek." Derek paused, blinking his eyes in shock. Did he just hear her right? "I know that you don't feel the same, but…"

Derek instantly pressed his finger to her lips. "That's not true. Contrary to popular believe, I don't hate you."

"But…"

"I love you too, Casey. More than you could ever imagine." He said before capturing her lips again in another kiss.

Several minutes later, both teens had stripped off whatever clothes were remaining and were intertwined in each other. There was no ravishing of certain body parts, no swearing, no rushing the moment – Derek wanted to enjoy this as much as possible. The way her skin felt against his, how her hair felt as he ran his hands through it, how their bodies moved in rhythm, how the sounds of her moans sent shivers down his spine – there were no words to describe it. The act itself felt better to him than it had with any other girl. Better than good, better than great – with Casey, it was divine. After what seemed like an eternity to both of them, they could feel their bodies nearing climax.

"Derek" Casey let out in a loud moan.

"Casey" Derek grunted.

Both teens moaned loudly as waves of pleasure ripped through their bodies. Derek collapsed on top of her, both of them breathing heavily. After he finally caught his breath, he propped himself up so that he could look into Casey's eyes again. Placing a hand on her cheek, he leaned in for another passionate kiss. As he did so, one thought was going through his mind: '_This must be what heaven is like_.'

* * *

Derek's body jerked involuntarily as his eyes snapped open. How long had he been asleep? He looked over at the alarm clock. 5:28 A.M. '_Crap_' he though as he stared at the green numbers etched on them. It was then that he noticed he wasn't in his room. '_Hmm, so I did fall asleep in here. So, I'm guessing…_' Sure enough, he looked down to notice that Casey (fully clothed) was lying next to him (also still fully clothed), her arms wrapped around his. As he started to get up, he felt Casey's hand grip the sleeve of his jacket. Noticing this, he figured it was best to abandon the jacket so that he wouldn't wake her up. As he slipped his free arm out of the coat, he noticed the chill in the room. As he slipped his other arm free, he took his jacket and placed it over Casey as best he could. After doing so, he watched as she snuggled into the jacket, pulling it tighter around her.

As Derek got up and walked out of Casey's room and into his, he couldn't help but think about everything that had been happening. Why was he dead set on trying to kill Jason? Sure, he would understand roughing him up, but what Derek did would be considered criminal. Why did he let Casey hug him and cry all over him? Hugging and tears were two things he just didn't do – period. Why did he have that dream just then? The other dreams and fantasies were just raw, sexual desire. This one had was, in a way, more romantic; more, more,…

Just before he flopped down on his bed, Derek's body went rigid. A piece from the dream was suddenly flashing through his head…

"_I love you, Derek."_

"_I love you too, Casey. More than you could ever imagine."_

Derek immediately grabbed his cell phone and quickly punched in a number. After several rings, he heard some groaning and coughing on the other end of the line.

"Hello" an angry, sleepy voice said on the other end.

"Sam, it's me, Derek." The nervousness in his voice was very evident.

Derek heard a sigh on the other end. "And…"

"Look man, I've got a problem."

Another sigh. "Ugh…and…"

"No, I mean I've got a big fucking problem."

"AAAAAAND!!!..." Derek could notice the anger in his friend's voice.

"I think you and Ralph were right about what you said earlier. I think I'm in love with Casey."

There was a prolonged silence before Sam spoke again. "Oh…okay…that's a new one…"

* * *

A/N: Holy crap! Derek finally realized what Sam, Ralph, and Marti knew all along! :D What will are hero do now? Who will he turn to? Do other people know? And what about Casey?

Guess you'll just have to keep reading and reviewing to find out.

The whole "Derek carrying a hockey stick and beating somebody's ass with it" was loosely inspired by a real-life event where some guys tried to start some shit with my brother and my cousin at a party way back when. I say loosely inspired because the guys turned into a bunch of scared bitches when my brother pulled out the baseball bat, so he didn't get to beat them within an inch of their lives like Derek does to Jason in this story.

'Til next time, keep classy and stay safe.  
- the OD


	7. More People in the Loop

A/N: Okay, it's 6:30 in the morning for me. I really don't want to be up, but I have to go babysit my wife's little brother. Tried to upload this last night, but wouldn't work. Hope you still enjoy.

God, I feel like Derek Venturi in real life - 6:30 A.M. isn't one of those times that should exist.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

_(end of last chapter)_

"_Sam, it's me, Derek." _

"_And…"_

"_Look man, I've got a problem."_

"_Ugh…and…"_

"_No, I mean I've got a big fucking problem."_

"_AAAAAAND!!!..."_

"_I think you and Ralph were right about what you said earlier. I think I'm in love with Casey."_

_There was a prolonged silence before Sam spoke again. "Oh…okay…that's a new one…"_

* * *

Anyone watching Derek on the phone right now wouldn't believe that this same guy who was stuttering and rambling incoherently was the playboy hockey captain who was practically worshipped at his school.

"Dude…I mean…mass hysteria…dogs and cats living together…I'm screwed…uh, uh…"

"Derek, calm your ass down. It's too early for me to help you deal with this. Okay?" Sam replied groggily on the other end.

"Emergency guy meeting – my house, tomorrow afternoon" Derek quickly said before he hung up. He flopped down on his bed, not even bothering to remove his clothes or crawling under the covers. He just needed to finish getting some sleep – or whatever sleep he could get before another dream or fantasy took over.

* * *

Derek felt a frantic jumping taking place beside him on the bed. Cracking his eyes open slowly, he noticed that it was Marti jumping excitedly on his bed.

"Smerek, Smerek, wake up!" she shouted.

"Smarti, it's too early for this."

"But I want to finish playing Candy Land!"

"Can I at least get up and get some food first?"

"Okay, but hurry up!" she yelled as she hopped off the bed and ran out of his room. Against his will, Derek found a way to pull his body off the bed. As he did so, he felt something fall around him. It was his jacket. Despite the sleep that still hung in his eyes, he noticed a purple sticky-note attached to it. Grabbing it, he held it close to his eyes.

_Derek,_

_Thanks for protecting me and being there for me last night. That was really sweet._

_-Casey_

Derek let out a groan. He instantly had a flashback to the whole Scott situation, when he found out that Lizzie's soccer coach – who Casey was smitten with – was seeing three other girls at the same time. He went out of his way to show Casey how big of a jerk the guy was. After it was all over, she made a similar comment about him being sweet. Sure, he had done a couple of things to help her out (like getting the school to stop calling her that hated 'Klutzilla' name, or getting her dad to come back to the house to see Casey after her plans for a perfect evening with her dad were ruined), but this one instance finally solidified the fact that, despite all the shit he put her through, he had a soft spot for her.

Derek finally got the last remnants of sleep out of his system and decided to get this Sunday out of the way. As he reached the door, a thought went through his head. '_Now I know why I don't do tears, hugs, or feel-good-family-moments_.' As he reached the bottom of the stairs, another thought went through his head. '_Now I also see why I tried to avoid all three of these with Casey_.'

Edwin watched in awe as Derek walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bowl, a spoon, the carton of milk out of the refrigerator, and a box of cereal out of the cabinet. As Derek set the items down, he couldn't help but feel freaked out by Edwin's stares.

"What, Edweirdo?"

"Dude, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why?" Derek said as he poured himself a big heaping serving of cereal into the bowl.

"Because, you walked in here and got your own breakfast" Edwin replied with wide eyes.

"So?" was Derek's reply as he added milk to the bowl.

"So, usually you come in and order me to get your food. Something is up."

"Nothing is up, Edweirdo."

"Trust me, I will get to the bottom of this." Edwin declared.

Derek replied by taking his bowl of cereal and dumping it on his brother's head.

Edwin turns around to walk off, muttering "Was it something I said?"

"Der-ek! Why did you do that to him?"

'_Just great_' Derek thought as Casey walked into the kitchen with a bewildered look. "I had my reasons." He said as he refilled his bowl. As he ate his cereal, he watched as Casey entered the laundry room and started pulling clothes out of the dryer to fold and put away. In no time, he had finished his cereal and went to place his bowl in the sink. As soon as he did so, he closed his eyes. At this point, he could feel another one about to happen. No sense fighting it now, just let it run its course and be done with…

* * *

Derek opened his eyes to still find himself still standing at the kitchen sink.

"Casey, Derek, we'll be back in a little bit!" he heard Nora's voice yell out before hearing the sound of the front door closing.

"Where are they going?"

"Mom and George were going to take the younger ones out."

"Okay." Derek turned on the cold water and splashed his face. Grabbing his shirt tail, he pulls it up to wipe the excess off of his face. He turned around, to be greeted by the sight of Casey sitting on the island. "Jesus, what the…?!" he exclaimed. He thought she was still in the laundry room folding clothes.

"You aren't finished with breakfast already, are you?"

"Uh, yeah." Casey just shook his head to Derek's response. She motioned for him to come closer. As he did so, Casey grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. As both teens deepened the kiss, his hands explored Casey's body. Deciding to get a little bold, he slipped his hand underneath her skirt. Slipping his hand between her thighs, his eyes snapped open. '_No panties?_'

"So, are you sure about what you said earlier about being finished with breakfast?" Casey asked in a sweet, low tone, giving a mischievous smirk that would easily rival Derek's.

"Now that you mentioned it…" Derek trailed off as his fingers began to rub against Casey's entrance.

"Mmmmmm…now you get the point" she moaned in content, spreading her legs open to grant him easier access. Derek leaned in, planting more kisses on her face and neck as his fingers continued their current task. With his free hand, he pulled Casey's skirt up further until it was around her waist. Giving Casey one more kiss on the lips, he knelt down on the floor in front of her. Casey let out a moan as Derek's tongue made contact with her. "Oooooh…Derek…"

* * *

"Derek?" Casey asked as she grabbed his shoulder. You remember the cat in the old cartoons that would jump and latch himself to the ceiling when the hyperactive puppy ran up behind him and barked? That would've been Derek had it not been for a nanosecond thought of '_You do that, and the resulting impact might kill both of you, idiot._' He still jumped, but not to the ceiling as initially feared.

"Gah-wha…?!" Derek let out as he turned and faced Casey, wide-eyed and in shock.

"You okay?" she asked, a little fearful due to Derek's freak-out display.

"Yeah. Uh sorry, you kinda startled me there. Was thinking about something" Derek replied. He really didn't care if Casey bought the excuse or not. Currently, he wished he could just quit thinking. Him and thinking weren't getting along good at all these days.

"Sorry" Casey mumbled as she looked down at the floor. Derek could tell something was going through her mind. What it was, though, was still a mystery to him. Finally, she found the nerve to look back up at him. "I just wanted to thank you again for last night. It…it meant a lot to me that you were there when I needed someone."

"Yeah, I kinda got that from the note you left on my jacket" Derek said.

Casey, with a faint smile, shook her head and immediately stretched her arms out. Derek didn't have enough time to move away.

"Oh, come on! I had my fill of tears, hugs, and feel-good-family-moments last night!" he protested as Casey wrapped herself around him. Resigning himself to his fate for the second time in as many days, he gave an awkward hug back. After about ten seconds into the hug, an awful thought entered his head. The fantasy earlier gave him a raging hard-on. One that Casey's stomach was currently pressed up against. Mortified, Derek immediately broke out of the hug. "Gotta go! Bathroom emergency!" he blurted out as he bolted out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and up the stairs.

He didn't look back, which probably was a good thing because he didn't have the luxury of seeing Casey standing there, shock in her eyes and mouth hanging wide open. Her right hand went up to cover her mouth, while her left hand was pressed up against her stomach.

And it was a probably a bad thing that he didn't look back because if he had, he would've noticed Edwin hiding in the dining room, jotting something down into his research binder.

* * *

(3:35 P.M.)

DING-DONG! DING-DONG! Growling at the interruption to her movie, Casey hopped off the couch and went to answer the front door. "Sam, Ralph! What a surprise!" Casey exclaimed at the sight of Derek's best friends standing on the porch. "What are you two doing here?"

"Emergency guy meeting about…" Ralph started but was cut off by an elbow to the ribs by Sam.

"About?" Casey pried.

"For us to know and for you to never find out, Space Case" Derek said coolly as he stood at the bottom of the stairwell. "So, if you don't mind…mind your own business."

"Gladly" Casey snapped as she walked back to the couch and flopped down on it. Derek could've sworn he heard her mutter "jackass" under her breath, but he really didn't care at that point. Sam and Ralph followed him upstairs. Pausing at the games closet, Derek swung the door open quickly to see if anyone was inside. No one. He then went down the end of the hallway, making sure nobody was down on that end or hiding in the bathroom. He quickly motioned for his friends to go into his room.

"What was all that about?" Sam questioned as Derek closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Just making sure nobody's out there spying on us" Derek replied.

"So, what's up?" Ralph asked.

"Before we get to that, what's the deal with beating a guy senseless with a hockey stick?" Sam asked.

"How did you find out about that?" Derek asked.

"I went out with my parents to Smelly Nelly's for lunch. I overheard a couple of people talking about it" Sam said.

"Casey went to the party with Max, and there was some jackass who was trying to force her to…well, you know…" Derek trailed off. Just remembering what that Jason guy tried to do to Casey made his blood boil again.

"Oh" Sam replied. "No wonder you broke his nose."

"Wait, if she was with Max, where was he?" Ralph asked.

"This guy had his friends to distract Max so that he could try to single her out. She called me to come get her, which is when everything went down" Derek replied. "When we got home, she broke down and turned into Niagra Falls. Unfortunately for me, I ended up being the one to have to console her until she fell asleep. After that, I fell asleep and then…"

"Another dream" Sam added.

Derek nodded his head as he flopped down in his chair behind his desk. "But this one was different from most of the others. It ended with me and Casey in the bed together, but there wasn't the raw energy to it. It was too much like a chick flick than a porno flick."

"Okay. So, how did you get you're in love with her from a dream that ended with both of you getting it on?" Ralph asked.

"Because in the dream, I told her I loved her" Derek replied. Sam and Ralph didn't need to speak further. He placed his hands on his face and let out a long sigh. He was about to say something else before he noticed some movement from his closet door. '_No! They wouldn't!_'

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked as Derek got up and walked over to his closet door. Throwing the door open, all three watched as Edwin fell face first to the ground.

"You!" Derek let out as Edwin cowered in fear. He noticed his little brother had his research notebook and…and…a walkie-talkie? Grabbing the walkie-talkie, he took in a deep breath before pressing a button on the device and screamed "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He listened intently, then heard commotion (and was that a cuss word?) coming from Lizzie's room. Derek ran to his bedroom door and opened it long enough to catch Lizzie trying to run out of her room and to the stairwell. Grabbing her by the arm, he snatched her into the room and slammed the door shut.

"Oh God, Derek, we're sorry, we're sorry!" Lizzie quickly blurted out.

"How much do you know?" Derek said through gritted teeth. Lizzie stood there silent, shaking in fear. He then looked over at Edwin. "How much do you know?"

"We heard everything" Edwin said solemnly. Derek had never lashed out at his siblings or stepsiblings in absolute rage before. That was about to change.

"Sam, Ralph, go find me a place where I can bury the bodies" he growled as he started toward Lizzie and Edwin. Both of the teens scurried into a corner.

"We're sorry Derek. We were just trying to follow up on some research about you and Casey" Lizzie whimpered.

"Research?" Derek let out in disbelief.

"She's telling the truth" Edwin let out as he held out his research notebook. Derek snatched the book out of his hands and started flipping through the pages. He stopped at a section labeled "Project: Dasey."

"Project: Dasey? What the hell is that?"

"It's a combination of Derek and Casey. A play on your names" Edwin said.

'_How cute, you rotten little shits_' Derek though as he turned his attention back to the notebook. As he flipped through the pages, his eyes widened at the amount of information they had gathered. Arguments over the remote, arguments at dinner, fights over the bathroom, times when they were actually civil or nice to each other – Edwin and Lizzie were very thorough. At the end, he saw a note: _Hypothesis – Derek and Casey's behavior toward each other possibly reveal underlying feelings toward each other. These feelings may be reveal that they like each other in a non-sibling or stepsibling way. More research is needed to verify._

"Looks like we could change that hypothesis to a theory in Derek's case. I think we should focus our efforts on Casey" Lizzie said with a faint smile.

Derek immediately sprang to life. "No! Nobody, and I mean nobody, must find out about this until I get this mess straightened out!"

"But why?" Sam said, breaking his silence.

"Dude, I've already told you why. All hell will break lose if anybody at school, the 'rents, or Casey finds out. Especially Casey."

"But we want to help you, D-man. Eventually, this is going to eat you alive" Ralph said.

"Until that day happens, you are all sworn to secrecy. You must swear to God, Allah, Buddha, or whoever it is you worship not to tell anybody until this situation can be resolved. Understand?" Everyone in the room nods their heads to Derek. "Okay, now that we've got that settled, I need some time alone. So, everyone, out" he directed as he opened his bedroom door. Sam, Ralph, Edwin, and Lizzie piled out of the room and made their way downstairs. After the last one gets out, Derek stuck his head out of the door to notice that Casey was standing just outside her bedroom door. "Uh…"

"I think it will be for the best if I don't know what that was all about" Casey said as she entered her room and closed the door behind her.

"Whew" Derek let out. Thank goodness. Just then, Marti skipped down the hall. "Hey Smarti."

"Hey Smerek. Did you figure out if you liked that girl?"

"Yeah Smarti. Yeah, I did" Derek said. "Too bad I can't tell her that."

"Why not?"

"Because I know she won't like me back."

"I'm sure it will work out, Smerek."

"You do?"

"Yep. One day, Casey will figure out she likes you too and have both of you can have your happily ever after." Derek stared at Marti, mouth hanging wide open, as she turned around and skipped off toward the stairwell.

'_How did she…? Wait, wait. I think I'm better off not knowing_' Derek thought before he closed the door.

* * *

A/N: Uh oh, looks like more people are finding out about Derek's secret. How long can he keep the secret a secret?

Continue to keep reading and reviewing.  
- the OD


	8. Mondays Are Hell

A/N: Another chapter: wooo-hooo! Would've had it up earlier in the week, but I had to babysit my wife's little brother while their dad was at work for a couple of days. Hope you enjoy. Before I move on, I must say I am surprised at how the story has done so far in terms of hits, reviews, favorites, and story alerts (some of which are far above and beyond what 'Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek Edition' did). Thanks for the support.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

_Knock-knock-knock._

"_Uuuugh…what the hell? It's 2:30 in the morning" Derek muttered to himself as he sat up out of the bed and went to open his door. 'Probably just Marti having a nightmare or something' he thinks as he opens the door. Looking down, expecting to see Marti, he is instead greeted by the sight of bunny slippers. Immediately jerking his head up, he is now looking Casey dead in the eyes. "Case…" was all he got out before her lips crashed into his. Suddenly snapped out of the last remnants of sleep, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his room, pushing the door shut with his foot._

_Derek backed away from the door, pulling Casey along with her. When his legs reached the side of the bed, he ended up falling backwards, with Casey landing on top of him. After several seconds, his hands slide up from her hips and underneath her pajama top._

_Casey breaks out into giggles as his fingers slide over a sensitive spot. "That tickles."_

"_Keep it down before you wake up one of the others" Derek whispers._

"_They'll just have to get over it then. The only thing that matters right now is being in here with the man I love" she whispered back before they resumed kissing each other._

_As they kissed, Derek began to undo the buttons of her top, granting him access to her breasts. Trailing kisses down her cheek and neck, he eventually made his way to his destination. Casey let out soft moans as he alternated from one breast to the other, kissing and sucking on her nipples. As he continued, Casey grabbed the waistbands of her pajama bottom and panties, sliding them down to her ankles. Derek grabbed her around the waist again, this time to lay her down on the bed. Sliding his pajama pants and boxers down, he leaned back in to Casey, kissing her again as he positioned himself._

_Everything started out slow at first so that they could keep the noises down as much as possible. After several minutes, the intensity and passion between the two grew._

'_Oh, yes Derek, that's it' Casey moaned in pleasure as Derek continued to thrust in and out of her._

"_God, you feel so wonderful Casey" Derek let out._

"_So do you baby. I love you so much" she manages to let out, despite biting down on her lip to muffle the sound._

"_I love you too" he says before capturing her lips with his, swallowing another loud moan._

It was at that point the alarm clock decided to go off.

Derek shot up out of the bed, sweat pouring down his face. "Get out of my head" he tells himself, punching himself upside the head, before throwing the covers off. He hated Mondays with a passion already. Today was just going to be absolute hell – he was sure of it.

* * *

Casey and Emily sat as their usual perch on the bottom of the stairwell, staring at Derek, Sam, and Ralph as the gather around Derek's locker talking.

"I still can't believe Derek did all that for you. I guess that really was sweet of him" Emily says with a grin.

"Something's wrong with him" Casey says in an uneasy tone as she watches the conversation from afar.

"What are you talking about? He's probably just boasting about his date with Tanya" her best friend says, trying to reason with her.

"Em, you've known him longer than I have. Just look at the way he's acting – he's not bragging."

"So?"

"So? First, he actually placed a blanket over me Friday night when I fell asleep on the couch, when he would usually take the opportunity to draw on me with a marker. Then, he sticks up for me at that stupid party. Then, he actually tried to comfort me – I mean he dealt with the tears and the hugging. You know Derek doesn't do that stuff."

Emily thought for a moment. "Maybe he's actually trying to be nice to you" she said before bringing her water bottle to her lips.

"Doubt it. Although, it was nice that he loaned me his jacket to sleep in…" Casey's sentence was cut off by the sound of Emily splitting her water out.

"What?! He's never let anyone else wear his jacket…ever!" Emily gasped.

"Then, now would probably be a bad time to mention that he didn't fight me off when I gave him another hug the next morning" Casey said with an uneasy look on her face. As she remembered the incident, she involuntarily clutched at her stomach.

Emily looked down the hall back at Derek and his friends. "Breaking his no-hug policy twice in a row? I think you're right. Something must be seriously wrong with him."

Both teens watched as the conversation was cut short by a man walking toward Derek's locker.

* * *

(The same conversation that Casey and Emily had been watching)

"God, I hate my life" Derek said as he switched out books at his locker. All morning long, people had been bugging him about either his date with Tanya on Friday or about defending Casey at the party on Saturday. '_Seriously, don't these people have a life?_'

"Dude, you are losing it" Sam said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious" Derek snapped.

"I still don't get why you are hung up on Casey. I mean, there are plenty of other girls in this school to go after" Ralph added.

"I think this might have something to do with this" Derek said as he pulled out a couple sheets of paper and handed them to Sam. Sam scanned the paper over, eyes widening at a highlighted section.

"Where did you find this?" he asked.

"I looked it up on a psychology website. Ed recommended it to see if it would give me any answers regarding my situation" Derek replied.

"Whoa" was all Sam could come up with.

"Let me see that" Ralph said as he glanced over the same paper. "I don't get."

"Just give it a moment" Derek said, grabbing the papers and stuffing them back into his bookbag. "It will come to you."

After a moment, Ralph's eyes widen. "Whoa."

"There you go."

"So wait, are you saying…" Sam started before being interrupted by Derek.

"Most young men will find and fall for a woman kinda like the one that married dear old dad, but in my case…I doing the same fucking thing man" Derek let out before running his hands through his hair. "Oh God."

"Basically you're saying that you want to be with Casey because she's like your mom" Sam said.

"Don't forget about Nora" Derek chimed in.

"Okay, I'm confused" Ralph said.

"Think back to before my dad got divorced. Who was the one person who always stood up to me and rode my ass about ever single little thing?"

"Uh, your mom?" Sam replied.

"Exactly. Now, who is the only girl in all of Canada that stands up to me?"

"Oh!" Ralph lets out.

"Now, who were the women who stood up to the masculine doctrine that ruled our house after my mom left?"

"I see where you're going with this" Sam said.

"Every girl I have dated, no matter how beautiful or smart they are, usually caves in to my masculine desires. Casey is the only girl who will stand up to me and all my bullshit, no matter how hard I try to break her down."

"Don't forget that she is good looking" Ralph said.

"I know. I mean, she's perfect. Man, karma really is a bitch – making the perfect woman my stepsister."

"Mr. Venturi!" a voice boomed down the hallway. Derek, Sam, and Ralph all popped their heads up to see the hockey coach making his way to them.

"Shit. Later, D-man" Sam blurted out before grabbing Ralph. Both of them ran down the hallway toward the stairs and rounded the corner. Derek knew that they were just hiding, waiting for his coach to leave.

"Hey Coach, what's up?" Derek asked, gathering his composure and giving his patented smirk.

"I can tell you one thing that's not – your grades" Derek's coach replied. "We talked about this already, Venturi. You're suspended until you get your grades up."

"Coach Watson, wait, you can't be serious! I mean, we're playing Michael Power/St. Joseph's in less than two weeks! I mean, there are going to be so many scouts at that game!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before earning an 'F' in English" Coach Watson said coolly.

"Wait, wait, wait. There's got to be something we avoid this terrible tragedy from occurring."

"There's only one thing you can do. I talked to your English teacher, and see told me that you have a paper due the week of the game. If you get your grade up to passing by that Thursday before the game, you can play."

"But the final draft is due on game day?"

"Well, guess you better get a head start?" Coach Watson said before turning around and walking away.

As soon as the coach was down the hall, Derek turned around and started headbutting his locker. Sam and Ralph cautiously looked out from around the corner, while Casey and Emily watched these events from the stairwell.

"Yeah, it's official. Derek Venturi is losing it" Emily says to her best friend.

* * *

(3:15 P.M.)

Derek waited in the auditorium for Sam and Ralph to meet up with him. During 7th period, Ralph told him that they had a very serious issue that needed to be discussed. He didn't know what it was about, but Ralph actually sounded serious about this. '_I mean, if it's something that actually makes Ralph take something seriously, it must be bad._' Breaking himself from his train of thought, he looked up to see Sam, Ralph, and … Emily walking into the auditorium? And it looked like Sam was holding Emily by the back of her shirt.

"Okay, what's going on?" Derek asked. Before Sam or Ralph could say anything, Emily let out a yell.

"You're in love with Casey?! Oh my God!"

Derek could feel the blood drain from his face. This had to be one of the worst things to happen regarding his situation. Casey's best friend finding out about his secret had to be the closest thing to a death sentence. "Sam, Ralph, how could you?!" he shouted as he started toward them. Emily ducked out of the way to avoid him as he grabbed his best friends by their shirt collars and pushed them into the nearest wall. "I'm going to kill you two for telling her this!"

"Derek, please don't get mad at them! They didn't mean for me to find out! I was eavesdropping on them during a conversation!" Emily screamed, trying to calm him down.

He immediately let go of Sam and Ralph and looked at her. "You were eavesdropping? Why?" he asked. He was still sheathing, but figured yelling at Emily would probably be a very bad thing to do right now.

Emily let out a deep breath before she continued. "Casey and I were talking earlier. She mentioned that something seemed wrong with you, so I spied on Sam and Ralph to see if they knew anything."

Derek let out a laugh before taking a seat. "Ain't that just freaking beautiful? First, I fall for my stepsister, coach suspends me for my grades, and now everyone is finding out about my secret. Dad, Nora, and Casey have to be the only ones that don't know about all of this – yet."

"Derek…" Emily started.

"Look Emily, I know you can't keep a secret about anything, especially from Space Case. I might as well find a gun and shoot myself."

"Derek, I'm not going to tell Casey" she declared.

"How do I know that?" he asked incredulously.

"Look, this is clearly something you don't want people interfering in. I'm going to respect that for as long as possible, but if I see that there is a way to help you and Casey out, I will get involved."

"What do you mean, if there is a way to help me and Casey out?"

"Look, I know both of you pretty well. Even though you're at each other's throats most of the time, you both care for each other a good bit. And besides, you're complete opposites."

"And?"

"My God, don't you watch chick flicks. It's like yin and yang – you're opposites, but you balance each other out. She tries to get you to think things through and stay out of trouble, and you try to get her to have fun and not be so uptight. You'd both protect and look out for each other. Face it, you're perfect for each other" let out with a smile.

Derek stared at the floor for a few seconds before he spoke again. "You really think that there is a shot in hell at me and Casey being together?" Emily nodded her head. Derek stood up. "Fine, but not a word to Casey unless I say otherwise."

"Or unless I notice an opportunity?"

Derek let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine" he said, extending his hand. She responded, shaking his hand in return. "Well, as fun as this was, I need to get going before I'm late for practice. I don't need Coach any further up my ass than he already is." he said before grabbing his bookbag and exiting the auditorium.

* * *

(7:03 P.M.)

Derek walked in through the front door, tossing his books and hockey gear down and throwing his jacket on the coat rack. As soon as he stepped into the living room, he was face to face with his dad.

"Derek" George said. Derek didn't like the tone in his dad's voice.

"Dad."

"Your hockey coach and your English teacher called me today about your current situation."

Derek let out an exasperated sigh. "Dad…"

"You can't expect to keep trying to charm and coast your way to through life. You need to focus on your schoolwork and I support your coach's decision."

"But Dad…"

"Don't 'but dad' me, Derek. I've already called your boss at Smelly Nelly's to let them know you will not be working on school nights for the next two weeks so that you can get that paper done on time" George said. "Now, go and get washed up for dinner."

Derek turned around and ran right up the stairs to the bathroom. As he washed his hands in the bathroom, he could hear Nora calling everyone to come to dinner. Finishing up, he made his way to the dining room. Dinner ended up being a quite affair – for Derek, not for everyone else. The rest of the children had something to talk about or brag about. Derek, on the other hand, just shoveled food into his mouth, ignoring everything else that was going on around him. As soon as he finished his last morsel of food, he got up to take his dishes into the kitchen. After dropping them off in the sink, he walked back through the dining room and, grabbing his bookbag, headed up the stairs. As he did so, he could hear the conversation unfolding behind him. Truthfully, he really didn't care how much they talked about him. Only one area of concern crossed his mind…

"Lord, please don't let Edwin, Lizzie, or Marti let anything slip. I don't think I can handle any more bad shit happening today' Derek said under his breath as he made his way into his room.

* * *

(8:30 P.M.)

Derek sat, looking through various websites, trying to figure out some good topics for his English papers. He was wearing his headphones, with "Given Up" by Linkin Park playing at a soothing one million decibels. The topic for his paper had to focus on a type of human characteristic or emotion. It had to be at least two pages and had to involve a lot of boring stuff: its cause, how it affected people, and examples of the characteristic/emotion. As he searched through website after website, he let out a groan. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar presence – Casey. He hated the fact he could sense when she entered the room without having to look up.

Derek looked up to see her saying something that he was never going to hear with those headphones on.

"What?" he said, lifting off one side of the headphones.

"God, how are you not deaf yet?!" Casey exclaimed.

Derek switched off the music and took the headphones off completely. "What do you want, Princess?"

"Don't call me that. Anyway, I was just checking up on you."

"Why? Didn't Emily get enough info for you?"

Casey suddenly developed the deer in the headlights look. "W-w-what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, my boys caught her trying to spy on them and she told them everything."

"But…"

"Perhaps you've forgotten about the prime directive of the Venturi – McDonald Treaty Agreement, which is, and I quote, 'Stay out of my private life'!"

"Der-ek!" Casey whined.

'_God, I hate the way she says my name like that. It sounds – hooooot!'_ Derek though. "I don't need your help. I got along fine before you came."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Before you came, I was one of those who noticed when the shit was about to hit the fan, and would step to the side so all the other normal little people would get sprayed. Ever since you came along, I've been finding myself getting caught behind the fan more often." Derek said, giving a smug grin.

"Leave it to you to blame me for your stupid problems! Why are you such a jerk?!"

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "Check back in a week. Mr. Nice Guy might be back by then."

"Asshole!" Casey let out before stomping out of his room and back to hers. A couple of seconds later, she stuck her head back in through the door. "And for the record, you getting suspended for a hockey game is not part of your private life! Keep that in mind when you come begging to me for help!" she added before leaving again.

'_Was she always that cute when she's mad?_' Derek thought to himself. '_Aaaaah! Get a hold of yourself! Being in love with her is one thing, but obsessing about her is starting to get a little…_' His thoughts were interrupted by the light bulb going off in his head. Grabbing a notebook, he immediately jotted down one word: Obsession. '_Well, at least I've got my topic._'

* * *

A/N: Another person bites the dust to Derek's secret. A lot of you are probably wondering how long I'm going to drag out Derek concealing this secret from Casey and/or the parents. It's coming, I promise you.

Don't forget to continue reading and reviewing.  
- the OD


	9. The Task at Hand

A/N: Well, I'm finally glad I got this one up. Hope you guys and girls enjoy it (for some reason, it seemed to be a hard one for me to right). Things have been very crazy for me lately and have just distracted me a lot, especially in this chapter.

Don't know when the next update will be, because I'm starting up my new job, which will once again take away time from completing my fanfics. I will tell you that there are a few more chapters remaining, so consider this the turn heading into the home stretch for the story.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD.

Now, on with the show.

* * *

(Wednesday evening – 7:45 P.M.)

Derek sat at his desk, drumming his fingers on a notebook. So far, all he had was the following written on it:

_Topic: Obsession_

_Definition: compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety; a compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion_

_Examples: …_

"Damn. Examples, examples, need examples…" Derek muttered to himself. The topic seemed simple enough two nights ago, when he thought it up. Now, he just couldn't put his thoughts onto paper. He sure as hell couldn't share the reason behind why he thought of the topic. As that thought went through his head, he glanced at the wall separating his room from Casey's. As his mind drifted off into thoughts of her, a voice suddenly snapped him back to reality.

"What in the world are you doing?" Casey's voice rang out from the doorway.

"I'm trying to get some of this stupid assignment done so I can watch the Leafs – Canucks game" Derek growled.

"Well, what do you have so far?" she asked, walking up to his desk.

"Practically nothing" Derek said, tossing the notebook in her direction. She picked it up and scanned over it. Derek let out a low, almost concealable gulp – he knew for sure that Casey was about to laugh her ass off at him.

"I see you have an idea and know what it means. How could you not come up with examples for this?" Casey said in a calm manner, handing the notebook back to him.

"I don't know. I'm not good at this academic stuff. I just wish I could come up with something in the next five minutes before the Leafs game starts" Derek said in an exasperated manner.

"Well, there's one example right there" Casey beamed.

"What? The part about me not being good at academic stuff, because…"

"Not that. I mean hockey. Face it Derek, when it comes to hockey, you're obsessed with it. You've played it since God knows when, and even have to watch it when it's on TV."

"Case, that's not true."

"Oh really. What about last June, when we had the fight over the remote because you wanted to watch the Stanley Cup?"

"Come on, it wasn't that bad" Derek protested.

"Derek, we were practically wrestling over the remote. You threw me over the couch, for crying out loud" was Casey's rebuttal.

"Okay…maybe it was a little excessive, but it was for a good cause…"

"Face it Derek, you're obsessed with hockey."

Derek shook his head. "Okay, so maybe I am" he said as he jotted it down in the notebook.

"Don't forget girls" Casey quickly added.

"Now, where would you get that idea from?"

"Let's see…the swimsuit posters on your wall, the magazines you read, the list of girls that you want to date before high school, your hockey groupies – need I continue?"

"That's all just coincidence, Space Case."

"Face it Derek, you're obsessed with girls more than you are hockey."

Derek and Casey's conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Both teens turned around to see Lizzie standing there. "Casey, can you help me with my homework?"

"Sure Liz" Casey said. Derek watched as the McDonald sisters left his room. '_You have no idea how wrong you are, Space Case. I'm not obsessed with girls at all – just you_' Derek thought as he jotted down more information in the notebook.

* * *

(Friday afternoon – 12:15 P.M.)

"Okay class, please leave the rough drafts for your papers on top of your desks before you leave" Derek's English teacher said as the bell rang for lunch. Students got up and made their way out of the class and to the cafeteria. Surprisingly, only one was hanging around after everyone else left – Derek. "Mr. Venturi, is there a problem?"

"No ma'am. I just wanted to make sure you got my paper" he said, handing her his work.

"Are you okay?"

"Why?"

"This is out of the ordinary for you."

"Trust me, things have been everything but ordinary for me lately." With that, Derek adjusted his bookbag and headed on for lunch.

* * *

(Monday evening – 7:52 P.M.)

Derek walked through the front door, throwing his practice gear and bookbag down.

"Derek, where have you been?" George asked, shooting up from the couch.

"Relax Dad. Coach had a long practice today" Derek replied back, sliding his jacket off and tossing it on the coat rack.

"Well, there's some leftovers in the kitchen. After you finish eating, I want you to go upstairs and work on correcting that paper."

"Wait, how did you…?"

"Casey mentioned during dinner that you got your papers back to make corrections."

"Figures" Derek said as he walked into the kitchen. As George listened to the sound of dishes and silverware clatter, he thought about his son's current predicament. He noticed over the last week that Derek was really putting forth the effort on this assignment. Still, he wanted to see Derek do really good, not just do good enough to get by (which seemed to be a fine art for Derek). Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Hey son, I was just thinking…" George said as he briskly walked into the kitchen.

"Take cover, everybody" Derek said as he shoveled a forkful of meatloaf into his mouth. George glared at him, deciding not to respond to that comment at the moment.

"Anyway, I was thinking that instead of just doing good on your paper, that maybe you should ensure that your paper is stellar."

"Stellar?" Derek asked, giving George a questioning look.

"Yes. That way, by making a very good grade, you can give yourself a little breathing room with your grades."

"That sounds good and everything, but explain to me how I'm going to accomplish that."

"Well, I figured that maybe you could convince Casey to give you some pointers…"

"No way, Dad" Derek protested. "I am not going to go beg her for help."

"Maybe this will change your mind" George said, pulling out a 20 dollar bill. Derek looked and gave a smirk.

"Nice try, but you think I can be bought that easily."

"Okay, 20 dollars and I won't take the keys to the Prince for the remainder of the month" George replied, copycatting Derek's smirk.

"You wouldn't" Derek said as his eyes widened in horror.

"You're not in much of a position to negotiate." George's smirk had grown into a fill grin.

After several seconds of silence, Derek hung his head in defeat. "Fine."

"Good choice" George said as he placed the 20 on the counter in front of Derek.

* * *

(Monday Evening – 8:21 P.M.)

Derek stood in the hallway outside Casey's room, trying to bring himself into asking Casey for help.

'_Man, I can't believe Dad sunk that low. Well, at least I know where I get it from. Okay, just suck it up and ask Casey to help you. I mean, at worst, she'll say no, then I can get on with my own existence.'_

Derek finally summoned up the courage to open the door. Right about the same that Casey was changing into her pajamas. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head at the sight of her, already in her panties, sliding her shirt over her head and revealing the lace bra she had worn that day.

"DER-EK! GET OUT!" Casey screamed, trying to cover herself with her hands and arms. Derek immediately slammed the door shut and walked into his room.

"Okay, that's not going to help when I go to sleep tonight" Derek said to himself. A couple of minutes later, Casey (now clad in a t-shirt and pajama pants) stormed into his room.

"What is wrong with you?! Don't you know how to knock?!" she yelled.

"I was going to ask a favor, but I see that you're pissed, so why don't you go one back and …" he said as he tried to direct her to the door.

"Wait, what? What kind of favor do you want?" Casey asked.

Derek muttered an inaudible curse word under his breath. He really hoped she was mad enough to agree to leave his room. "Well, I was going to ask for some pointers about improving that paper for English, but I can see that you wouldn't want to go through with it."

Casey crossed her arms. "Wrong again, Venturi." Derek's eyes widen in horror.

'_She's going to agree to this?! God, please, you can stop with the torment now!_'

"Beside, I'm sure it will give me the chance to hold something over your head" she said, holding her hand out for Derek's paper.

"It's over there, on my computer keyboard" Derek muttered.

Casey walked over and grabbed the paper. Derek watched on as she looked through the paper with a grin. After a few seconds, the grin disappeared from her face. Several seconds later, Casey had her nose buried into the paper. As she neared the end, Derek noticed her cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

'_She must've read that one section. Probably just blushing from the face that I would actually admit to something. I hope – Lord, please don't let her figure out it's her that I'm talking about_' he thought to himself.

"Well, um…" Casey struggled to find the right words to say. "That was interesting. I can't believe you used examples that involved our family."

"Well, how horrible is it." Derek's eyes were focused on the ground.

"Actually, it's not too bad. If you fix up the grammatical errors marked on here and make a few tweaks here and there, this could easily be a B paper. Maybe an A." Casey said, a faint smile on her face.

Derek looked up at her. He gave a smile back. "Just a few tweaks. You sure?"

"Mmm-hmm." Suddenly, she rolled the paper up and smacked him on the head.

"Hey!"

"You can start by removing the sentence that says my obsession is being a joy-killing, grade-grubbing klutz!"

* * *

(Monday evening – 10:05 P.M.)

Surprisingly, Derek and Casey managed to work together in completing his paper. Although, knowing those two, there had to be moments like the ones that follow.

--like--

"Der-ek! Please remove that sentence about me!"

"But I thought killing joy, grade grubbing, and klutziness were your obsessions."

"Why I ought to…"

"Okay, Princess. How about being a neat freak?"

"That's manageable. Oh, how about dancing as my obsession?"

"No."

"Come on, dancing is for me like hockey is for you."

"You just did not compare hockey and dancing. God, could you be any more of a loser."

"Der-ek!"

--or--

"That's not how you spell psychoanalysis."

"Shut up keener."

"If you like, I can just leave."

"No, wait. I'll stop."

"Why? You don't want to lose my company."

"Sure, whatever you've got to tell yourself."

"Derek enjoys my company" Casey said in a sing-song tone. She stopped when she noticed something in the paper. "I can't believe you said that my sister and your brother need psychoanalysis!"

"Why? I think they have issues, especially when they get into their spying modes."

"That may be true, but that's still a mean thing to say. Get rid of it."

--and--

"So, who is this person you're talking about?"

"What person?"

"The person referenced here. And I quote: 'Everyone would probably believe that my biggest obsession, except for hockey, is girls. A while back, I would've agreed with that, but today, everyone would be wrong. There's really only one girl that I'm obsessed about. She's so far out of my league when it comes to looks, brains, and beliefs. My inner idiot – that little voice that tells me I'm not good enough, or smart enough, etc. – goes beserk when I think about her. I know nothing could ever happen between us, but still doesn't stop my thoughts and dreams being invaded by her'."

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"C'mon Derek, tell me."

"Fine. I'll tell you if you'll tell me why you haven't been up Max's butt lately."

Both of them got quite after that.

--of course, Derek's imagination went on an alternate tangent after that--

"_Max was alright, but the connection just wasn't there between us" Casey finally said, breaking the silence._

"_Okay. Then, what are you…"_

"_Not so fast. Now, you get to tell me who the girl in the paper is, and no lying either."_

_It was then that Derek noticed the close proximity between them. Casey was knelt down on the floor beside him as she helped him make corrections. 'No lies, huh? Well, most everything that comes out of my mouth is a lie, so I guess I better go with plan B.' Without warning, Derek grabbed Casey and pulled him up into her lap._

"_Der-ek! What the hell are you…?" Casey whined before Derek cut her off with a kiss. Casey's jaw dropped as she just sat there, staring at him._

"_The girl in the paper – it's you."_

"_You…you think that about me?"_

_Derek nodded._

"_You really think that nothing can happen between us?"_

"_Well, I mean there are a million reasons why we shouldn't be together…"_

"_But there's only one reason we should." With that, Casey leaned back in for another kiss._

"Der-ek! Are you even listening to me?!" Casey complained, snapping Derek out of his stupor.

"Sorry. Brain fart."

She shook her head. "You're hopeless."

--finally--

"Well, I believe that should do it" Casey said as Derek made one last correction to his paper.

He let out a long sigh of relief. Casey picked out every single little thing that could be reworded, corrected, removed, or added. She was worse than their teacher! "Finally."

Casey let out a yawn. "Well, it's getting late. I think I'm going to call it a night." As she started for the door, Derek's voice interrupted her.

"Case…"

"Yeah" she said, turning back around to face him.

"Um…thanks for the help."

"You're welcome" she said, giving him a huge smile.

Derek watched as she turned around and walked out the door, mesmerized by one area in particular. '_Damn, I could watch that ass for days_' he thought. '_Well, I guess I better get a shower and call it a night_.'

* * *

(Thursday afternoon – 12:20 P.M.)

Casey ran up to her best friend's locker. "Hey Em!"

"Casey, are you okay?"

"Yeah. By the way, remember last week when we were talking about something being wrong with Derek?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I figured out what it is."

Emily's eyes widen at Casey's statement. "You do?"

"I read his paper that he had to do for English, and he mentioned being obsessed about some girl."

"Did he say who it was?"

Casey shook her head. "No. Guess he didn't want people finding out the name. All he said was that she's out of his league and he feels that there isn't a chance of anything happening between them. That's got to be what's wrong with him."

"Wow. Derek really thinks a girl is out of his league?" Emily said. In the back of her mind, she was thinking '_Damn, that boy has it bad for Casey._' Suddenly, another thought popped into her head. "Wait, how did you find out what was in his paper."

"He came to me for help to make sure everything was correct. George probably put him up to it."

"Really. Derek coming to you for help on an assignment…"

"You know, it's weird. The way he let it out in that paper, I could help but get the feeling that…" Casey's sentence was cut off by the sound of yelling down the hall.

"YEAH, BABY, YEAH!!!" Derek yelled as ran out of his English class. Everyone in the hall watched as Derek continued to yell, jump, fist pump, then ramble incoherently about finding the hockey coach. Most people were stunned by the sight before them. Casey and Emily laughed at this display. As Emily took a moment to catch her breath, she noticed out the corner of her eye the look on Casey's face. She was still laughing at Derek acting like a total goof, but there seemed to be a sparkle in her eye.

'_Hmm…I wonder…_' Emily thought as she continued to watch what was occurring.

* * *

(Thursday evening – 6:04 P.M.)

Derek walked in through the front door, dropping his gear and bookbag next to the coat rack. "Hello, anybody home?" he called out. No answer.

'_Shit. Nobody's even here for me to tell them that I'm playing tomorrow night._' Derek thought as he headed into the kitchen. As he walked into the kitchen, he noticed Casey was in there emptying the dishwasher. "Hey, where is everyone."

"They went to pick up something for dinner" Casey replied as she stacked up plates to be put away in the cabinet.

"Well, guess they should've thought about that before we went out" he said.

Casey immediately turned around. "What do you mean we?"

"We are going to go celebrate my glorious 'A' paper and my return to the line up just in time for the biggest game of my life!" Derek exclaimed.

"An 'A'?! Wow, congratulations Derek!" she squealed in excitement. "Wait, why are you taking me along?"

"Because I most likely wouldn't have gotten that A if it wasn't for your helpful hints." Casey just stood there, a light blush developing on her cheeks in response to Derek's statement. "Now, let's go before I come to my senses" he said as he walked out of the kitchen, making it seem like he was in a hurry to leave. In reality, he couldn't stay in the room with her any longer with her blushing like that. It was setting off too many desires.

"Hey, wait up!" Casey exclaimed as she followed suit.

* * *

A/N: Just to clarify the format for this chapter - I pretty much took the two week time frame between Ch. 8 and Derek's upcoming game and crammed it into one chapter. That's probably why I felt like I was struggling real bad with this chapter (along with the recent distractions mentioned in the 1st author's note above).

Also, the moment of Dasey is drawing closer and closer. How will it happen? How will everyone react? Stay tuned to find out.

- the OD


	10. Blurring Perception and Reality

A/N: Sorry to all my devoted fans for the long delay in updates. I've been busy trying to get things together with my new job (which is now in full swing), plus things on the home front are still crazy as ever. Hopefully, this chapter won't disappoint all you devoted fans. Kinda ran into a little writer's block as well, since I've spent a lot of time debating much longer I want to drag the story out and what direction I wanted it to take. I will say this - it won't be going in the same way I had it going when I first thought up the story concept. Dasey fans need not despair - that part of the story's safe.

Hopefully, it won't take me long to do the next chapter, but you never know. Thanks in advance for showing patience.

Disclaimer: I don't...aw hell, you should know by now.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

(Thursday evening – 6:35 P.M.)

"Smelly Nelly's? This is your idea of going out?" Casey asked as her and Derek walked in through the door of the restaurant.

"Well, I think I'm back to my senses, so I guess I can I can take you back home…" Derek started.

"No, no, no, no" she protested, grabbing him by the arm. "I'm going to milk this opportunity for all it's worth."

Both teens walked to an open booth in the back corner. A minute later, a young blonde came walking up.

"Derek. Great to finally see you back around here" the girl said.

"Sally, don't tell me work has been that bad without me around" Derek said.

"Ugh, it's been boring the last two weeks without you here" Sally said.

"Well, my problems have been solved and I shall be back next week to kill the boredom curse."

Sally just smiled at the cocky attitude Derek was exuding. She then glanced over at Casey. "Uh, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh. Sally, Casey. Casey, Sally."

"Der-ek" Casey snapped. "Forgive his behavior. I'm Casey McDonald."

"Sally Todd. Pleased to meet you." Sally extended her hand, which Casey shook politely. "So, what can I get you two to drink?"

"Water, please" Casey said.

"Coke will be fine" Derek added.

"Alright, I'll be right back with your drinks." With that, Sally walked off, leaving Casey and Derek to themselves.

"She seems nice. When did they hire her?" Casey said.

"They hired her after some crazy girl named Riley got mad at the manager and quit" Derek said with a smirk.

Casey shook her head at the memory of telling off the manager (who treated her rather poorly) and walking out the restaurant, with Derek not too far behind. "I still can't believe that you came back here so quickly…on second thought, I should."

"Well, I had to make some money legally since after your little scare with my merchandising adventure at school" Derek replied.

"I still don't know how you talked me into helping you with that" she said, shaking her head again. However, Derek couldn't help but notice the small grin on her face.

"Look, I know I do stupid stuff all the time. You're supposed to be the one that's smart enough not to go along with my plans."

"I guess that the offer of a cell phone and my own locker was too good to resist" Casey replied with a chuckle. "So, Sally seems pretty nice, and pretty…"

"She's got a boyfriend, if you're wondering why I haven't gone after her yet" Derek said, cutting Casey off.

"Ah" was all she said in return.

Mentally, Derek couldn't help but think about the current situation. '_Wow, I can't believe that Casey and I are getting along great. No jokes, yelling, throwing of various items…and truth be known, this is actually rating up there with the start of some of my good dates…wait, what was that last part?_'

Derek's thoughts were interrupted by Sally returning with their drinks. "Okay, here we go. Now are you two ready to order?"

As Casey and Derek gave their orders, he couldn't help but notice that Sally kept looking at the two of them, smiling sweetly. Honestly, it unnerved him a little bit. Why was she smiling so much at them? Dinner went surprisingly well for the two of them. There was none of the usual things that went along with a dinner that involved Derek and Casey. They were actually eating their food instead of throwing it at each other, joking about others instead of jokes about the other one's misfortunes, and – God help us – actually carrying on decent conversation with each other.

As dinner was finished, Casey wiped her mouth off with a napkin while Derek was taking a giant gulp of drink. Sally then walked up to the table.

"So, did you guys enjoy the food?" Both teens nodded at Sally's question. "Great. So Derek, can I get you and your girlfriend any dessert?" Derek nearly choked on a mouthful of drink, while Casey stared at Sally like she grew another head. Sally instantly quit smiling, wondering why they were acting like that.

Casey managed to find her voice first. "I'm not his girlfriend. I'm his stepsister."

"What? You're…oh God, I'm so sorry!" Sally blurted out.

"It's okay" Derek let out between gasps of breath. "Check please."

"Uh sure" Sally said as she quickly scribbled something on the check and handed it to him.

"Ready?" he quickly asked Casey.

"Yeah" she replied quickly, grabbing her coat in a hurry to get out of the restaurant. As she got up, she failed to notice the waiter that was walking by with a tray full of drinks.

Derek just cringed as arms, legs, and drinks went flying everywhere.

* * *

(7:35 P.M.)

The car ride back from Smelly Nelly's was a very quite affair. As Derek pulled the car into the driveway, he and Casey looked like they were sitting on pin cushions. As he placed the car in park and switched it off, he couldn't help but think back on the events that transpired at the restaurant. Suddenly, he found himself breaking out into giggles.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked, giving him a weird look. That look sent Derek over the edge, as he broke out into full blown fits of laughter.

"That…was…the…weirdest…and…funniest…thing…I…ever…saw!" Derek said between his fits of laughter.

"It wasn't that funny!" she protested.

"Yes it was!"

"Der-ek!"

"I'm sorry! I can't help it!" Just as soon as his laughter started to calm down, Casey suddenly broke out into laughter. For a couple of minutes, the sound of laughter filled the car.

Finally, both teens started to calm down. "Oh God, I hope nothing like that happens again" she says.

"Which part? The one where you got showered in drinks or where we got mistaken for boyfriend and girlfriend" he replied. He could've sworn that Casey was actually thinking about it.

"The boyfriend/girlfriend fiasco was bad, but at least that was mostly between us. The pile-up with the waiter was in front of God and everyone in the place." Derek was surprised by her comment. She thought having a ton of drinks poured on her was worse than having someone mistake her stepbrother as her boyfriend?

'_I'll worry about that later. Things are just getting too weird_' he thought. "Well, I guess we better head on in before everyone starts wondering where we are."

"You're right. Besides, I've got to finish my paper for English." With that, both teens got out of the car and started walking to the front door. As they reached the front door, both teens stopped and looked at each other.

Derek shifted under the awkward silence. For him, this felt like the end of a date. The part where he kisses the girl before she goes inside for the night. "Uh, Case…"

Before he could even finish, Casey reached out and hugged him. "Thanks for dinner. That was really sweet."

Derek hated that 'sweet' word. "Just don't tell anybody that I'm actually being nice to you."

Casey pulled out of the hug. Derek was sure she was going to yell at him for ruining the moment, but instead was surprised to see her smiling. "I know, because heaven only knows what damage that will cause to your rep."

"Uh, yeah. Let's go with that" he said with a smirk. With that, he opened the front door and both teens entered the house. George and Nora, who had been sitting on the couch watching TV, perked up as the two entered the door.

"Casey, Derek, where have you two been?" Nora asked as they slipped off their coats.

"We went out to eat" Derek replied.

Nora noticed the wet spots on Casey's clothes and in her hair. "Casey, what happened?"

"I, uh, ran into one of the waiters" was her sheepish reply.

"Poor guy didn't know what hit him. Thanks for getting me out of work Dad, otherwise that could've been me." Derek braced himself as three heads snapped in his direction and yelled out "Derek!" in unison. He took a couple of seconds to analyze their faces. Of course, his dad and Nora were obviously ticked off, but it was Casey's expression that threw him off. She still glared at him, but it wasn't the usual death glare that she gave him. There was actually a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Well, I'm going to go clean up and get my homework done." With that, Casey turned around and headed up the stairs.

"So, you two didn't destroy the restaurant while you were out?" George asked.

"I must admit Derek, you are becoming a rapid underground success with getting along with my children" Nora said.

"Shocking, isn't it? Maybe in 25 years, I'll be able to hug her in broad daylight" Derek replied back.

"I'm not going to hold my breath for it" George said. His comment earned him a glare and an elbow nudge to the ribs from Nora. "What?"

Derek laughed at this exchange before heading into the kitchen to grab a drink. As he pulled a drink out of the refrigerator, he was stopped by his dad at the kitchen door.

"So, your coach called me today and told me your good news."

"I so excited that I made a total ass of myself in the hallway" Derek said.

"Well, I hope that you've learned your lesson."

"Yep, if I get in a bind, beg Casey to help me out."

"Derek…"

"I'm kidding Dad. Although I should thank you for the idea of having Casey help me." A few moments of silence passed between father and son. Derek noticed that George seemed to be thinking about something. Whatever it was, it caused George to give an uneasy smirk. "Dad?"

"Yeah."

"What are you thinking about?"

George seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering. "Nothing, really. Nervous about tomorrow?"

"Honestly, with all of this stuff happening recently, I haven't had the chance to be nervous."

"Well, you need to get some sleep. I'm pretty sure that you'll be back to your normal game day self tomorrow."

"I hope not. Well, goodnight Dad" Derek said as he exited the kitchen.

* * *

(Friday morning – 2:30 A.M.)

Derek tossed and turned in his sleep, dreaming about how tomorrow night after the game would play out:

"_Smerek, you were amazing!"_

"_That was amazing!"_

"_I can't believe that you scored the final goal with just 15 seconds left!"_

"_Great job, son!"_

_As the McDonald-Venturis walked into the house, everyone was excited about Derek's game. His team had beaten one of the best teams in the province of Ontario. He had played one of the best games of his hockey career. The entire family even overheard some of the scouts talking about him in the parking lot after the game. Everyone couldn't help but showering him with congratulations. None probably better than the one Casey gave him while the rest of the family was walking into the dining room and kitchen with backs turned._

"_You were amazing tonight, Derek" she whispered before planting a small kiss on his cheek and joining the rest of the family in setting the table for dinner._

_After a celebratory dinner that involved pizza, soda, and some comments about Derek's currently state of hygiene ("Derek, please keep your arm down before you kill us."), Derek decided a nice, hot shower would be a great way to loosen up before getting on his computer to read all the fan e-mails that was probably flooding his inbox after a big game. As he headed into the bathroom, he noticed everyone else was settling in for the night._

_As he turned on the shower and let the hot water run over him, Derek could feel his muscles relax and the soreness starting to ease in his body. "Damn, that game was rough tonight" he murmured to himself. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open as two arms wrapped around him and a feminine body pressed against his back._

"_Awww, poor baby. I was hoping we could continue to celebrate" Casey whispered into Derek's ear._

"_Casey, what are you doing in here?" he asked in a whisper of his own._

"_Everyone else is in bed, and I wanted some time alone with my MVP."_

"_Case…"_

"_Please?" she whined. Derek turned to see Casey looking at him with sad, soulful eyes and with her lips rolled out._

"_God, I hate when you do that" he said, turning around and pulling her in closely._

"_Why?"_

"_Because you know I can't resist that." With that, both teens engaged in a passionate kiss. Seconds later, Casey found her back pressed against the shower wall, with Derek reaching his hands behind her thighs to pull her up against him. Casey let out a deep moan as she felt him pressed up against him._

Derek awoke with a start. "Damn it" he muttered to himself. "I've got to stop having these dreams. I'm going to lose my edge for tonight's game." With that, he laid himself back down, trying to focus his thoughts off of Casey and on the game tonight. '_Although, I wouldn't mind getting a celebration like that if I could._'

He would eventually wish he had kept his thoughts on Casey and off of the biggest game of his life.

* * *

(9:30 A.M.)

Derek was trying to get his breathing under control as he walked down the school hallway. Sure enough, his dad was right about his pre-game jitters returning, as the sound of Derek puking served as the joyous wake-up call for the top two floors of the McDonald-Venturi house. Then, when he got to school, he noticed more stares and whispers from people than normal. '_Guess everyone realizes how big a game this is for me_' he though as he stopped at his locker.

"Yo Derek! You ready for tonight?!" Sam said as he and Ralph walked up to their friend's locker.

"I suppose" Derek replied, hoping that his nausea wouldn't return.

"By the way, how was your date last night?" Ralph said.

Derek looked up with a confused expression on his face. "Huh?"

"Your date with Casey last night" Ralph replied with a huge grin.

"So, looks like things are looking up for the two of you" Sam said.

"One, there isn't anything going on between Casey and me – yet. Second, where the hell did you get that from?!" Derek snapped, with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Some people said that you and Casey were at Smelly Nelly's last night" Sam said.

"We went there for dinner after I got home from practice. What's the big deal?"

"They said that you two were by yourselves, actually getting along, and having a good time. They also said something about Casey running into a waiter because you two were in a hurry to leave and be alone some more" Sam said. Derek just stood there with his mouth hanging open. So, people actually thought that he was on a date with Casey? He could feel his blood running cold. First, the fantasies were eating him alive. Now, people think that they went on a date together?

'_Fucking morons – can't mind their own fucking business. Oh God – that's why all those people are staring and talking…_' Derek thought to himself. That nauseated feeling was starting to return. "Oh shit. Excuse me" was all he said before taking off in a dead sprint to the bathroom.

* * *

(10:55 A.M.)

Emily was trying to hurry to her next class. Nothing out of the ordinary, one would think. Try telling that to Emily Davis after being snatched into the bathroom against your will by an unseen set of hands.

"What the hell is going on?!" she blurts out as the bathroom door slams shut behind her. Those same set of hands whipped her around to reveal a very freaked out Casey McDonald. "Casey…"

"Em, I have a very, very big problem!"

"Look, I know it's unusual for you to forget an assignment, but…"

"No, it's not that!" Casey let out. "I overheard someone in class talking, and they said that, that…"

"What?"

"That I went out on a date with…with…oh my God, I am so screwed!" Casey let out, almost on the verge of tears.

"What's the problem?" Emily asked, slightly annoyed.

"Emily! People are saying that I went out with Derek! Not a Derek – the Derek!" her best friend replied.

Emily's eyes widened in shock at this revelation. Wait – where was she when this rumor started? "Oh my God! Are you serious?!" For several seconds, she couldn't comprehend what Casey was babbling about. Finally, she grabbed her friend and held to where they were looking each other in the eyes. "Calm down. Now slowly, tell me what's going on."

Casey took a couple of deep breaths to regain her composure before beginning. "People are saying that they saw Derek and me on a date at Smelly Nelly's."

"Well, is it true?"

"No! I mean, we went to dinner, but…but…oh God!" Casey started before breaking down into sobs. Emily immediately grabbed her into a hug.

"Case, I'm sure that it's just a misunderstanding" Emily said, trying to comfort her.

"It's not that Em. I mean, sure, people are confusing the situation, but I can't help what I feel."

Emily pulled back a little, giving her friend a confused look. "Casey, is there something that you're not telling me?"

"Sure, I mean he's my stupid, annoying stepbrother, but lately I've seen a different side of him. That night at the party, working with him to get that paper done, and last night, I found myself wishing it was a real date – wishing that I could've kissed him afterward."

"What?!"

"Emily, I think I'm falling for Derek."

As Casey broke down into sobs again, Emily couldn't help but imagining what was going through her friend's mind. Casey was probably worrying about how everyone at school would consider her a freak, her parents would disown her; and a lot of other stuff, and – most importantly – how Derek would react if he were to find out. '_These two have so much more in common than they would admit_' she thought to herself. Drawing a deep breath, Emily decided it was time to tell Casey what she knew. "Casey, there's something you should know."

* * *

A/N: Again, hope this chapter meet your satisfaction. So, turns out Derek isn't the only one undergoing psychological warfare. The question is - how deep does the rabbit hole go for Casey? Also, will Derek and his team win the big game? Tune in to find out.

Don't forget to keep reviewing.

Much love  
- the OD


	11. Crossing the Line

A/N: Well, I was finally able to bring it together for another chapter. Hope all of you enjoy it (I seem to keep having a hard time with coming up with these chapters lately). Also, to those that were fans of "Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek Edition", I've recently began to write the sequel to it and hope to have it up within the next few weeks.

Disclaimer: Seriously now...how many of you think I own LWD?

Now, on with the show!

* * *

(Friday afternoon – 12:35 P.M.)

Lunchtime happened to be an unusually quiet affair for a few of the students in the cafeteria.

While most of the hockey players were excited about tonight's big game and making that excitement known vocally, Derek just sat there in complete silence. He was a complete train wreck. His usual pre-game jitters weren't unusual – in fact, he was completely used to that. What he wasn't used to was the rumors floating around about him and his stepsister. Sure, he had secretly lusted for her for months and recently discovered that he loved her, but now with rumors floating around that they had went on a date had pushed him into a mental tug-of-war.

"_You know you will never have a chance with her."_

"_Don't listen to him. Why are you letting that hold you back?"_

"_I mean look at her. She's got a great personality, she's smart, and she's got looks to kill for. And she's your stepsister."_

"_Just a minor technicality."_

"_People will think you're a freak."_

"_There are no blood ties. No problem there."_

"_You will no longer be king of the school."_

"_Your true friends will stick by your side no matter what. That will plenty enough."_

"_You will tear your family apart. Think about what will happen to your dad, your brother, and your sister when your lustful habits rip apart the family and cause the McDonalds to leave."_

"_True love will conquer all. Your Dad and Nora will find a way to cope. Your family will accept it."_

"_Just forget it, Venturi. It's hopeless!"_

"_Dude, quit being such a bitch and go for it. You may never get another chance to get her."_

Derek suddenly pushed his tray away from him and got up. Sam and Ralph noticed this and started to see what was wrong, but he just waved them off before making his way out of the cafeteria. All of this stress was just too much. He needed some time to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Casey sat at her table in stunned silence, replaying the last part of conversation with Emily over in her head.

"_Casey, there's something you should know."_

"_What?"_

"_Look, I overheard Sam and Ralph talking about something that was bothering Derek and then actually had the chance to ask him about it himself" Emily continued._

"_Please, I know that Derek worries about a hockey game or a dumb blonde bimbo, but I don't think that has anything to do with my problem."_

"_It does when you're the girl that Derek is hung up on."_

"_What?! Emily, is this some kind of sick joke?!" Casey snapped back._

"_Yes it is. Derek told me himself."_

"_This can't be happening."_

"_It is. You both realize you love each other and are too afraid to admit it too each other."_

"_Huh?"_

"_You're both afraid of tearing your family apart, afraid that your friends and the people at school will think that you are freaks, and that society in general will shun you. Am I correct?"_

_Casey stared at Emily in disbelief. "I don't know what to do. This is all too much to bear right now."_

"_Trust me, Casey, everything will be alright. Eventually, though, the two of will need to address this issue."_

Losing interest in the sandwich in front of her, Casey pushed the tray out of the way and made her way to the library. Maybe she could find a book or a newspaper to read and take her mind off of the thoughts swirling around in her head.

* * *

(Friday evening – 6:45 P.M.)

As the team made their way onto the ice to begin their warm-ups, Coach Watson pulled Derek to the side.

"Feeling alright, Venturi."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I'm proud of you for what you've done in getting your act together. You've proven that you belong out there on the ice tonight. I need you to be the leader out there tonight, okay?"

Derek just nodded his head before stepping out on the ice. He suddenly felt a calm feeling rush over his body. All the stress, the nerves, the mental distractions he had endured prior to the game melted away as he skated around. The crowd that had gathered was in a frenzy. As he scanned the arena, he could pick out the college and pro scouts that had gathered to watch the game.

'_Time to give them a performance they won't forget._'

As he continued to look around, he noticed his family sitting behind the team bench, a tradition of his dad's for good luck. George and Edwin just smiled, knowing how big a deal this game was. Marti, wearing one of his practice jerseys, was jumping around and waving – which caused Derek to laugh. Nora and Lizzie, who didn't make it to many of his games, just smiled. Then there was Casey. She wore a smile too, but it seemed to be forced. Something was bothering her, but he didn't have time to figure out. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the coach calling them back to the bench for final pregame preparations.

Several minutes later, the buzzer sounded and the team exited back out on the ice for the start of the game. As Derek looked back behind the team bench one more time, he noticed Casey mouthing "Good Luck" to him.

* * *

From the opening face-off, the game immediately became an intense affair. Michael Power/St. Joseph's had lived up to their reputation as one of the province's best teams. They also played a very physical style of hockey, which knocked the Thompson High players for a loop (and on their butts) in the beginning. However, after an early time out and some encouragement from their coach ("Quit being scared and start putting them on their asses!"), the team started to find its rhythm.

Michael Power/St. Joseph's scored the first goal of the game mid-way through the first period. Early in the second, they scored another goal, putting Thompson behind further. However, Derek and Sam got their team back into the game mid-way through the third period. As Sam closed in toward the goal, he noticed two defenders closing in. Fortunately for him, he noticed that Derek was wide open for a shot. Sam managed to get the pass off before getting knocked to the ground. Derek immediately fired a shot past the goalie's leg. Several minutes later, Derek returned the favor, setting up a nice shot for Sam that tied the game up.

Early in the third period, Derek set up another goal, getting a pass off to his teammate Brandon before a defender tried to knock him four rows into the crowd to give Thompson High its first lead of the game. Several minutes later, Michael Power/St. Joseph's tied the game back up. During the play, Derek took a vicious hit to the midsection as he closed in toward the person controlling the puck. He could feel the pain rip through his midsection as he pulled himself off the ice.

With one minute left in the game, Coach Watson called a time out. As the Thompson squad made their way to the bench, he noticed Derek favoring his midsection.

"You okay, Venturi?"

"I'm still breathing, aren't I?" Derek replied back.

"Good, because I need you for this final play! We're not playing for overtime, we're playing to win!" Derek, along with the rest of his teammates, listened as their coach drew up a final play.

Michael Power/St. Joseph's had control of the puck as the teams came out of the timeout. As their opponents made their way down the ice, Derek kept his eye on two in particular. He could tell that the player controlling the puck was planning on passing it to this person. As this person attempted to pass the puck, Derek skated between the two, intercepting the puck. Immediately he passed the puck off to Sam. Sam skated quickly down the ice, dodging defenders along the way. Seeing a defender closing, he made a pass down the ice to his teammate Dave. Dave skated quickly toward the opposing goalie, who was positioning himself to stop the impending shot. As Dave raised his stick, the goalie shifted to the right side of the goal – exactly like he was hoping for. He then fired the puck off to his left side, right to where Derek was approaching. Derek quickly raised his stick and hit the puck with a perfectly time slap shot that sailed toward the left side of the net. The goalie made a desperation lunge to stop the puck, only to watch it sail just above his outreached glove and into the net.

The crowd erupted into cheers. 18 seconds left. Derek immediately shouted out for his teammates to get back on defense. Michael Power/St. Joseph's quickly charged down the ice, trying for one last shot to send the game into overtime. However, the Thompson defense wouldn't give them any openings, and the time ticked away to zero. As the final buzzer sounded, Derek dropped to his knees, overwhelmed at the moment as his teammates closed in around him to celebrate. His team had just defeated one of the best teams in all of Ontario and he had played one of the best games of his life, scoring the game winning goal in the process. As the celebration calmed down and the teams gathered up to shake hands, Derek took a quick glance over where his family was sitting. All of them were smiling and cheering at the moment – none of more so than Casey.

* * *

(11:25 P.M.)

Derek moved gingerly as stepped out of the shower. His body had taken an incredible toll during the game that night. His legs felt like jelly due to the energy he exerted during the game. He was sure that his ribs were bruised pretty badly due to that one hit that he took.

'_Damn, that guy hit like a freight train. Thankfully, I'll have a few days to rest up_' he thought as he dried off. Sliding on a pair of underwear and his pajamas, he exited the bathroom and decided to call it a night, seeing how everyone else in the house had did the same thing. Just as he reached his door, he heard some commotion from downstairs. Curiosity got the better of him as he made his way downstairs. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed the only light that was on downstairs was in the kitchen. Sitting at the island was Casey, who was just staring into a bowl of ice cream. "Hey."

Casey nearly jumped off the stool at the sound of his voice. "Der-ek! God, you nearly gave me a heart attack" she hissed.

"As much as that would amuse me, I think we've all had enough excitement for one night" Derek mused as he took a seat. As he did so, he grimaced at the pain in his midsection.

Casey immediately went from a look of annoyance to a look of concern. "Are you okay?"

"Hurt my ribs. Don't get to excited – I'm not going to kill over or anything like that."

"Well, that just ruined my night" she said. After a few moments of awkward silence, she spoke again. "So, did you hear about what's going around the school?"

"Case, I'm king of the school. There are a lot of things that go around that place. You have to be more specific."

"You know which one, Derek. Even you aren't that stupid."

"Oh, that stupid one where I'm supposedly dating my own stepsister?"

"And the last horse finally crosses the finish line."

Shrugging off her sarcastic remark, Derek immediately smirked across the island. "I mean, gross. Me…and you…"

Casey immediately jumped into the routine. "Ew, gross. I mean, you're disgusting, stupid, and probably STD-ridden…"

"And you're annoying, nerdy, and kill all types of joy…"

"I mean, our parents are married…"

"What the hell were those people thinking? There's no way that could work out."

"Right." With that, both teens settled into silence. Casey, just sitting there playing around with her ice cream, and Derek, rubbing the sore areas of his arms and legs. After a few moments, he got up with the intent of getting something to drink. He barely made it past Casey until something made him say something neither was expecting.

"What if they're on to something?"

Casey immediately spun around and looked at Derek. His back was facing her. "What?!"

Derek mentally cursed himself for saying that just then. Now he had two voices going in his head.

That little old man: _'Ah, it looks like a storm's a comin'."_

Derek's inner idiot: _'Fuck this, I'm going to the basement! Outta my way, get the hell outta my way! Don't look at her!'_

Derek tried to avoid looking back at Casey. However, he knew that she was staring at him and eventually, his back started to feel like it was on fire from it. Slowly, he turned to face her.

"Derek, what did you mean by that?" Derek noticed the tone in Casey's voice. He knew when he was pushing the wrong buttons. Now was one of those times.

"I…uh…" He couldn't make the words come out. He had never been great at expressing those types of emotions to anyone. How did he expect expressing them to his stepsister to be any easier? "Damn it!"

"What?!" Casey asked in annoyance, getting right up in his face. "What in the world has gotten into you?" Derek knew that when Casey was angered or annoyed, it was hard to talk to her. So he did the only thing he could think of that would take the edge off of her.

He grabbed Casey's face and crashed his lips into hers. As he kissed her, he felt her body go rigid. Good. A shocked Casey wasn't a volatile Casey, which meant he might be able to say what he needed to say. Breaking away, he was greeted by the sight of a completely stunned Casey. All she could do was stare at him with her mouth hanging open.

"Now, to answer your question – YOU are what has gotten into me. You butt into my life, challenge my status as overlord of everything in my life, invade my thoughts on a daily basis, and drive me crazy at every chance you get. Yet, if you were to disappear off the face of the earth, I wouldn't know what to do without you. Since the concept of your stepbrother being in love with you is probably the last thing you want on your mind, you've got 15 seconds to either hit me or cuss me out before I leave the room." Derek waited for Casey's respond.

Several seconds later, Casey let out a light laugh. "Ha-ha-ha." Then it started getting louder. "Ha-ha-ha!" Soon, she was in the middle of a full-blown fit of laughter.

Derek just looked at her with a nervous look on his face. '_Oh shit, she's finally snapped. I pushed her over the edge_.'

Finally, between her fits of laughter, she finally spoke. "Oh…my…God! I can't believe this!"

Now it was Derek's turn to ask questions. "Believe what?"

"I can't believe that Emily was right."

'_What is she talking about? Oh crap…_' Derek thought before he remembered his conversation with Emily a couple of weeks back. "I take it that Emily happened to tell you a little something concerning me." Casey nodded her head. "And?"

"She told me about why you had been acting weird lately."

"And?"

"She told me it was about a girl."

"And?"

"That girl was me."

"And?"

"She told me this while I was freaking out about my feelings about you."

"Huh? What type of feelings?"

"The type that would make me do this." With that, Casey leaned in and kissed him. Derek responded back, returning the kiss and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her in tight. He wanted to push further, but realized that it was way too soon to try and make his fantasies reality. At least being able to hold and kiss her wasn't a dream. After what felt like an eternity to them, they broke the kiss.

After a moment to catch his breath, Derek finally spoke. "This is definitely a new one."

* * *

A/N: So, they both know how the other one feels. As I look at this, it's a vast divergence from what I had originally planned (with what I had planned, this story would've reached 20 chapters by the end). With the way it's going now, I honestly think I've only got about 3-4 chapters max left in this story. Keep in mind, George and Nora (along with the rest of the school) haven't found out yet, so that will still happen. Plus, I'm looking to include a reality scene that will be on par with the fantasies/dreams that Derek had, a nice little epilogue planned that I refuse to let die, and some Truman bashing for all you anti-Trasey people.

As always, don't forget to leave a review. Stay classy and be safe.  
- the OD


	12. Action and Reaction

A/N: Another chapter up. I've had a comment or two about the story losing its spark and becoming repetitive. That was my biggest fear whenever I started this fic, especially with how long it was originally planned to be. Thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed (whether you liked it or thought it sucked), I'm still blown away with the success that this story has had.

Disclaimer: You know it, I know it. Let's leave it at that.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

(Saturday morning – 8:45 A.M.)

For the first time in a long time, Derek was able to sleep and not actually be tormented by his dreams. However, he wished that he would've got to enjoy them a little bit longer, before the shaking started.

"Mmmm…Marti, not now…I'll play with you later…" Derek mumbled. He really didn't want to quit the dream he was having about him and Casey de-virginizing the hot tub of a luxury resort.

"Tempting offer, but we've got some things to discuss first." Instantly recognizing that the voice didn't belong to his little sister, Derek turned over to see Casey (already fixed up for the day) smiling at him.

"Yep. It is a beautiful morning" Derek replied. Despite the sleepiness that clung to him, he gave her one of his smirks.

"Der-ek" she said, giving him a slap on the arm. Unlike usual encounters like this in the past, Derek could tell that this was actually meant to be playful.

"So, what is it that couldn't wait three more hours for us to discuss?"

"Hmm, let's see. How about what will happen when our family, our friends, and everybody else finds out?"

"First of all, Sam, Ralph, Emily, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti already know."

Casey stared at him, stunned. "Wait, how did they all find out?"

"Well, Sam and Ralph practically pulled it out of me. Edweirdo and Lizzie found out after spying on the emergency guy meeting a few weeks back. Emily found out by spying on Sam and Ralph after you mentioned that I was acting weird."

"And Marti?"

"I haven't figured that one out myself. Trust me, when it comes to Marti, it's best not to worry about how she figures this stuff out."

"Well, what are we going to do about our parents and the people at school?"

"There's that rumor floating around at school about us anyway. I say screw the consequences and just let them know."

"How?"

"Go public. How else?"

Casey went wide-eyed. "You can't be serious?"

Derek just looked at her. "You've got a better idea?" Casey shook her head. "Good. Although, you may want to break the news to Max gently." He could sense the effect that had on her.

"I didn't bother to think about that. He's such a good guy. I don't want to hu…"

"He'll be fine. Maybe we can hook him and Kendra up?"

Casey immediately swatted him. "Der-ek."

"What?" he laughed out. After a few seconds of laughing, the conversation turned serious again.

"So, what about Mom and George?"

"I…I don't know. I just hope and pray that it won't cause them to split up. I don't want to hurt Dad or the rest of them like that."

Casey reached over and took Derek's hand in hers. "I know how you feel."

Suddenly, Marti's voice yelled out from the bottom of the stairs. "Smerek! Casey! Breakfast is ready!"

Resigning themselves to figure out a better plan later, they decided to at least get through the weekend.

* * *

(Sunday afternoon – 5:24 P.M.)

Smelly Nelly's had very few customers for this time of day. That couldn't have worked out any better for Casey if she wanted to. She had called Max and told him that she needed to meet with him privately. She now found herself sitting in a corner booth, teetering on the edge of sanity.

"Derek, I don't think I can do this" Casey said in a panicked tone. Derek was standing next to her, trying to calm her down.

"Look, just relax. Remember to breathe. Everything will be fine" Derek said, trying to reassure her. '_God, I suck at this comforting thing. Why can't I just prank her to take her mind off her nerves?_'

The sound of the door opening and caught their attention. It was Max.

"Good luck" Derek whispered to Casey before walking away.

"Hey Casey" Max said, taking a seat opposite from her.

"H-hey Max."

"Sooooo…what did you need to talk to me about?"

"I…I…" The words wouldn't come to Casey. Looking out the corner of her eye, she noticed Derek and Sally, who were watching from the cash register. Derek mouthed words of encouragement to her. Even Sally tried to give her some encouragement by giving her a smile.

"Casey, are you okay?" Max's words snapped her out of her stupor.

"I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. About us..."

"Us?"

"Max, you're a good guy and I really did like you, but…" Casey didn't even have to finish.

"You found someone else, didn't you?" Max said, hanging his head.

Casey nodded her head, with a few tears starting to slip out. "Max, I'm so sorry. I really didn't want to do this to you."

"Do you love him?" was all he said in return.

Casey was caught off-guard. "What?"

"Do you love him?"

It took a second, but Casey found her voice again. "Yes."

"If you love him, and he's good to you, I can handle it" Max said, finally lifting his head back up to look at her.

"Thank you Max" she said, getting up and giving him a hug. "Again, I'm so sorry about this."

"It's okay, but if he's ever hurts you, let me know and I'll deal with him" Max said in a joking manner. This generated a laugh from Casey. As the separated, Max returned to his seat, while Casey grabbed her coat and made her way toward the exit.

Meanwhile, Derek and Sally continued to look on.

"Well, he took that as well as anyone could expect" Sally said.

"I know. I feel sorry for him, and for Casey. I know that was hell on her" Derek replied.

"So, what a difference from Thursday night to now."

"Hey, shit happens."

"Oh, come on Derek. Admit it, I have good instincts."

"No, my little sister has good instincts. You just made a lucky guess."

"Derek!" Sally replied, smacking him on the arm with a rag.

"So, how have things been since you and Patrick split up?"

"Derek, I don't think that you should be trying to hit on me. I'm sure Casey won't appreciate it" Sally said, giving him a suspicious eye.

"I'm not asking for me" Derek said, looking over at Max.

"You can't be serious."

"What, he could probably use some friendly service from a cute waitress to help cheer him up" he said, giving her one of his patented smirks. Sally returned the smirk, then shaking her head, walked off to go serve Max. As Sally walked up to Max, Derek just watched. '_I hope I can do something to make things right. I owe him more than anything for being able to let Casey go._'

* * *

(Monday morning – 9:00 A.M.)

Casey and Derek stood outside the doors off their school.

"So, are you ready?" Derek said.

"No. Derek, I'm scared to death" Casey replied.

"It's okay, Casey. You'll be fine."

"It's not me that I'm worried about. Derek, you've got so much to lose from this."

"Look, I've got Sam, Ralph, Emily, the guys on the team, and you. That'll be enough for me" Derek said, trying to reassure her.

Casey gave a half-hearted grin. He knew his words had some effect on her, but at the same time, knew she was wondering if he really meant that he cared more for her than his popularity. He knew that was just one of the things that he would have to prove to her in time - along with straightening up his behavior, actually taking school more seriously, giving up chasing after girls, etc., etc.

Derek pulled the door open. Taking Casey's hand in his, he gave it a gentle squeeze before they stepped into the school. As they walked the halls, he could feel the eyes glued upon him - a sharp contrast to the high-fives, hugs, and congratulations he was expecting after Friday night's big game (which he still got from his hockey teammates). They made quick stops to their locker before the bell rang for first period. Before Casey could turn to head down the hall, he decided now was a good time to scrap the "no PDA" rule entirely. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick kiss. He could practically hear the gasps coming from as far as the other end of the hall.

"Have a good day, and don't worry" he said, easing off of the hug.

"I'll...I'll try to" Casey stuttered, still in shock by the sudden gesture before turning around and heading to class. Before she rounded the corner, she turned around and mouthed "I love you" to him.

"Love you too" he mouthed back. Derek just smiled before readjusting his bookbag and going to class.

* * *

(12:30 P.M.)

As she took a seat with Emily at the lunch table, Casey couldn't shake the feeling that all eyes on her. All day long, she had to endure stares, glares, and whispers about her and Derek. She hadn't felt so bad since she fell down the steps when she first started attending the school and Derek called her Klutzilla. As a matter of fact, she actually would prefer that day to what she was dealing with now.

"I don't think that walking into school together and holding hands was a good idea" she muttered before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Or kissing each other before leaving my locker for first period."

"It's okay Casey. Everything will be okay" Emily tried to reassure her.

"No, it won't" Casey moaned.

"Please, the number of people actually freaking out about this is actually lower than you think" Max said, taking a seat across from the two girls.

"M-Max. How…?" Casey couldn't even form a complete sentence.

"Word travels fast. I've talked to guys on the football team to let them know that I don't want to hear them talking junk about you and Derek" Max said. This brought a faint smile to Casey's face.

"Aww, that's so sweet. See Casey, things will be alright."

The smile quickly left Casey's face. "I'm getting death threats from Derek's groupies taped to my locker. How is that alright?"

"First of all, that's ex-groupies." Casey and Emily froze at the sound of Derek's voice. "Second of all, you'd be the first person to die from fingernail scratches if any of them actually try to carry out the threat. Thirdly, how can you have so little faith? You've survived the Klutzilla trials, your cousin Vicki, the school president election, and lying to Mrs. Pummleman…do I need to continue the list?" he said as he sat down next to Casey.

Casey shook her head.

"Don't forget 'Male Code Blue'. That one was a classic" Sam said as he and Ralph took seats at the same table.

"Ah, yes, good times" Derek said in a sarcastic tone. "Maxine, how's it going?"

"Just fine Dereka" Max quipped. "You owe me big time."

"Yeah, I know" Derek said. '_Although you and Sally seemed to get along fine after Casey left. Hopefully, my debt will be settled sooner rather than later_.'

Sam and Ralph just looked back and forth at Derek and Casey. "So, you two finally…" Ralph said before getting choked up. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry."

Derek just stared at him before turning to Casey and Emily. "Is he a long lost brother to one of you two?"

"Der-ek" Casey let out before giving him a slap on the arm.

"It's good to that the lovely couple hasn't changed too much." Derek and Casey immediately turned around to see Kendra standing behind them.

Their thoughts mirrored each other. '_How is she going to react? Wait, why does she have such a big smile on her face?_' And then there was the thought when Kendra pulled both of them into a monstrous hug: _'Air…need…air…boobs suffocating…me…_'

"I'm so happy for you two!" Kendra exclaimed. She finally let go, allowing Casey and Derek to recover from the lack of oxygen. "I just knew you two would make such a cute couple!"

"Huh?" was all Casey and Derek could come up with.

"So many people have been waiting for this day!"

"Uh, how many?" Derek asked.

"A few people predicted it not long after Casey got here. Since then, after watching you two, it's just grown from there."

Casey's jaw dropped at this revelation. Derek just looked wide-eyed.

Max leaned over and whispered to Sam and Ralph. "I hate it for them when they find out about the betting." Unfortunately, he didn't say it low enough, because Derek and Casey suddenly whipped around.

"What bet?!"

* * *

(12:45 P.M.)

Derek, Casey, Emily, Sam, Ralph, Max, and Kendra just stood there, watching the small crowd that had gathered around one of the lockers. Every once in a while, some would walk off, only to be replaced by others asking loudly what the latest news is.

"Hey, isn't that Schlepper's locker?" Derek asked.

"I think…no, Sheldon wouldn't do that!" Emily exclaimed.

"Only one way to find out." With that, Derek made his way over to the locker. A few seconds later, the rest of the group followed. He squeezed his way through the crowd up to the front. Sure enough, there was Sheldon Schlepper holding some paper and a money box, while Frank (Derek's old business partner in the merchandise scheme he was running) was holding a notebook filled with names, dollar amounts, and dates.

"Come on, when are you going to pay up?!" Someone yelled out.

"As soon as we found out the actual day they got together" Frank let out in an exasperated tone.

"It was last Friday night" Derek said.

"Thanks Derek, that really helps us…" Sheldon started before looking at him in horror.

"Yeah, thanks…" Frank started before he looked turned his head and stared in horror also. He hadn't forgotten what happened after he double crossed Derek with the merchandise scheme.

"So, you boys are taking bets about me behind my back?"

"Well, uh, I wouldn't exactly call it 'betting'…" Frank said.

"Uh-huh. Well, then…" Derek said, cracking his knuckles.

Sheldon immediately panicked. "Sam and Ralph placed bets too!" he said, flipping Frank's notebook to the last page. Sure enough, there it was: Sam Richards and Ralph Papadapolis, 50 dollars each.

Ralph and Sam immediately moved between Derek and Sheldon, swiping the notebook in the process.

"I'm sure that's just a typo" Ralph blurted out nervously.

"Let's just get rid of that…" Sam said, holding an eraser to the paper. "And you wrote it in ink, you sons of bitches."

"Five!" All four boys looked up to see Derek glaring at them.

"Four!" They started to ease their way through the crowd.

"Three!" The crowd was now out of the way, as they scooted further down the hall.

"Two!" All four boys had now turned around…

"One!" All four boys were now in a dead sprint, with Derek hot on their heels. Casey and Emily immediately took off behind him.

The crowd just stood there, letting out laughs when a scream of mercy or the sound of Derek yelling "I'm going to kill you!" erupted down the hallway. They could also hear Emily yelling "Derek, you better not hurt my boyfriend!" and Casey yelling "I'm not going to bail you out if you get in trouble! Der-ek!"

* * *

(6:32 P.M.)

Derek plopped down in the chair behind his desk, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. He had a little bit of time before Nora and George finished dinner. Perfect time to unwind from the events at school and practice.

"Hey" Casey's voice called out from the doorway.

"Hey" Derek replied.

Casey walked into the room and up to his desk. "Well, today was…interesting."

"I'll say." A few seconds passed before both of them started laughing.

"I can't believe so many people thought we were a cute couple" Casey laughed.

"I can't believe that there was actually a betting ring going on about us" Derek said.

"I mean, did people really read into our behavior that much?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders in response. Without warning, he grabbed Casey's wrist. She let out a squeal as she was pulled into his lap. "See, you were so worried that we were going to be branded as outcasts."

"Shut up" was Casey's retort.

He suddenly developed a smirk on his face. "I love the way your eyes sparkle when you get angry." Casey didn't even get the chance to respond before he kissed her. They start out light and broken, but quickly develop in both passion and consistency.

"Mmm…Derek" Casey murmured through a kiss.

"Yes" Derek replied, while still being kissed.

"We're being watched…"

"No, we're not…"

"Yes, we are…" Derek opened his eyes to see that Casey has one eye fixed on the door.

"Casey, no we're…yes, we are." Sure enough, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti were peaking around the door frame. Marti had a huge smile on her face, Lizzie had a faint smile, while Edwin was making a gagging gesture.

"Um, guys, a little privacy please?" Casey said.

Derek smiled and nodded his head at Marti, and did the same to Lizzie. He then glared at Edwin and did a slashing gesture across his throat. With that, the three younger siblings/step-siblings disappeared. "Now, where were we?" he said, leaning back in for another kiss.

"Kids! Dinner's ready!" Nora yelled from downstairs.

"Great timing, Mom" Casey said sarcastically as the both got up.

"Why, Casey McDonald. How dare you take such a tone" Derek said in a joking manner. That earned him a slap on the arm. "By the way, don't be shocked if a green bean or two comes flying your way."

"Der-ek!" Casey whined.

"Relax. It's just for appearances only."

"If you do it, you won't get any of these later" Casey said, giving him a light kiss on the lips.

Derek thinks about it for a moment. "You drive a hard bargain, McDonald."

'_Looks like Derek doesn't alway get what he wants_' Casey thought about finally being able to get through a dinner without food being thrown at her.

'_Looks like I'm going to get exactly what I want_' Derek thought about the time he would get to spend alone with Casey after dinner.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. There are only three more chapters left, but that still doesn't mean that the action is over yet. George and Nora are due for a surprise revelation, Truman still needs to get bashed, and I've got my own special way lined up to close the story and bring it full circle. Stay tuned and don't forget to leave a review.


	13. Unexpected Discovery

A/N: Wow, more reviews, more alerts, more favorites, and just at the threshold of 15000 hits! You guys are awesome! The must've helped motivate me to get this chapter up quickly. I just started writing and it all fell in place for me.

So, as I mentioned, the story is winding down. I've got some stuff lined up to wrap it all up, get it back to some of the goodness at the beginning that many of the readers loved so well.

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah...we all know by now...

Now, on with the show!

* * *

The first week of Derek and Casey's newfound relationship went about as well as anybody could've hoped for, considering the two people involved. There were still jokes and pranks between them, but changes were evident. Derek followed through on giving up chasing after girls, especially after an unfortunate incident where a former groupie tried to throw herself at Derek and insulted Casey in front of God and everybody at Thompson High School. This resulted in Derek skipping hockey practice, comforting Casey at home, and eventually getting rid of every phone number, email, and dating list of every girl that he had. It was extreme, but it got the point across to Casey that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Other than few people at school, most everyone that knew Derek and Casey accepted the relationship (a few of them exclaimed "It's about damn time!"). Their friends swore that they had never seen them as happy as they are now. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti enjoyed it as well, even though they would take turns interrupting Derek and Casey while they were spending time alone with each other. At least they were thoughtful enough to serve as look-outs to make sure George and Nora didn't catch them…

Telling their parents. Well, the inability to do so, was the only major problem they were having...

* * *

(Friday afternoon – 5:17 P.M.)

Casey was lying on her bed, screaming into a pillow. All week long, they had tried to come up with a way to break the news to George and Nora. They asked their friends, their younger siblings; they were even so desperate that they went to talk to Paul (all that resulted in was a coffee shower for Derek courtesy of Paul's spit-take).

"Case, relax. You're going to pop a blood vessel" Derek said, walking into the room and taking a seat next to her on the bed.

"I can't. Derek, everybody knows about us except our parents" Casey complained, raising her face out of the pillow to look at her.

"Look, we've been trying to come up with ways to break the news to them. Don't you just think we should just do like we did at school and just tell them?"

"That's the problem. Just because it worked with our classmates doesn't mean it's going to work on our parents. I'm scared that they will break us up, or worse, they will split up and we'll have to leave" Casey said, crying into her pillow.

Derek couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was scared to death of those two possibilities as well. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Get ready."

"Huh?"

"Get up and get ready, Case. We're going out."

"Out?"

"Yes, out. As in on a date. The two of us, alone. You're too stressed, so we need to go out and get you relaxed so you can think better."

"Der-ek…"

"Look Casey, when you're stressed, you don't do your best thinking. Think about it – every time you've made a poor decision, it was because you were stressed out."

Casey immediately perked up. "Since when did you learn all of this stuff about me?"

Derek just smirked. "Attention to detail. So, is it a date?"

Casey nodded her head. As she got up, she looked over to him. "Don't think that I don't know the ulterior motive behind this date."

"What motive?" Derek asked as innocently as possible.

"You're also looking for some alone time without an interruption" Casey said with a smirk.

"Okay, there's that reason too" Derek confessed.

**Two showers and a change of clothes later**

"So, you two are going out?" Lizzie asked. She and Edwin were standing outside their respective siblings' rooms.

"Yes. We both need to get out and spend some time alone" Casey said as she finished putting on her earrings.

"Which means we need a cover story for Dad and Nora. So, when they get home, where are we at?" Derek said, placing his stick of deodorant on his desk.

"Casey went with Emily to the mall, and you're hanging out with Sam and Ralph" Edwin said.

"Perfect. Make sure you coach Lizzie and Marti up on that before the 'rents get here" Derek said. He was about to call for Casey to hurry up, but didn't get the chance to before she walked out. She was wearing a black, low-cut short sleeve shirt with a pink cami top underneath it, a short denim skirt, and black high heels. A simple outfit, he would have to admit, but he still couldn't help but stare at her. She looked beautiful.

"Earth to Derek" Casey said, waving her hands in front of his face.

"Huh?"

"You were zoned out there" she said with a smile.

"Sorry" he said sheepishly. Casey just smiled at him. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he led her toward the stairs. As they reached the bottom step, Marti was waiting on them.

"Don't stay out too late you two" Marti admonished, pointing a finger at them.

Derek and Casey just laughed at how adorable she looked as they made their way to the door.

"Hey! I was being serious!" Marti pouted as the door closed.

* * *

(6:40 P.M.)

"Der-ek. Why didn't you tell me that you were bringing me here? I feel so under-dressed" Casey said in a hushed tone as she and Derek took their seats. She was expecting another trip to Smelly Nelly's; instead, he had taken her to Stefano's, a nice, out of the way Italian restaurant.

"Please, you look fine" Derek said.

"I must say, I'm impressed" Casey said.

"If your impressed with this, then you'll be at a loss for words after tonight's over with" he said.

"If you think that this will help you get me in the sack…"

"Relax, Case. I'm not going to make you do anything you're not ready for. Okay?" Casey nodded her head at his statement.

Just then, the waiter arrived to begin taking their orders. This set into motion the remainder of the night.

* * *

(Saturday morning - 12:04 A.M.)

Dinner was an enjoyable affair for Derek and Casey. Dinner then turned into a trip to a nearby bowling alley, which Derek had the adventure of trying to teach Casey both the game of bowling and the game of pool (he didn't mind teaching her to play pool – it just gave him an excuse to be closer to her). The trip to the bowling alley lead to a poetry jam at a local coffee shop (which Derek figured Casey would enjoy). The young couple just now find themselves coming back home.

"Oh man, the poetry was so amazing tonight!" Casey exclaimed as she walked through the front door and into the dark house.

"Shhh, keep it down. You're going to wake everybody up" Derek said as he limped into the house.

"Sorry."

"I think I'm going to stick to taking you to poetry readings instead of bowling" Derek grimaced as they entered the dining room.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident. Besides, you won both games."

"At the possible expense of my hockey career. Look, the object of bowling is to throw the ball down the lane at the pins, not backward at the person standing behind you, Klutzilla" he said as he took a seat at the table.

"Der-ek!" Casey whined. She entered the kitchen and grabbed a bag of frozen beans from the freezer. "Here" she said as she entered the still dark dining room, offering him the bag.

Derek declined. "I'll live." They sat there for a moment in the darkness of the room. He couldn't help but notice how the light coming in from the kitchen provided a soft glow on her features. She was just sitting there, staring at him with a smile on her face. "What?"

"Thank you for tonight. This was the best date I had ever been on."

"Even with the bowling accident?"

"Yes, even with the bowling accident. And with your 'little friend' constantly poking me while you showed me how to play pool" Casey replied, with a blush deepening on her face.

"Well, I try" he replied with a smirk. Casey just smiled at his comment before leaning in to kiss him. Derek returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. They were so lost in the moment that they didn't hear the footsteps coming up from the basement and through the kitchen.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" George said as he flipped on the light. As the light flipped on, it seemed like the whole world stopped. Derek and Casey immediately broke away from the kiss to see George and Nora standing in the kitchen doorway. Both of them were frozen by the sight of catching their oldest children kissing each other in a dark room. Derek and Casey sat there like deer caught in a pair of headlights – this was not the way they wanted their parents to find out.

After what seemed like an eternity in this state of shock, Derek was the first one who found his voice. "Oh shit."

* * *

Derek now found himself staring as his dad paced the garage floor. George had pulled him into the garage, while Nora dragged Casey to the basement, probably to prevent from waking the kids up. Derek was too scared to think. He loved his dad and knew he could pull him along, but he found out the hard way a couple of years back not to piss George off. He made that mistake one time about a year before his dad married Nora – it was the only time George ever laid his hands on him. He was now looking at the second occurrence.

"I can't believe you! I mean…what were you…?! Argh!" George exclaimed in frustration.

"Dad…"

"How long?"

"Huh?"

"How long has this been going on?"

Derek took a deep breath. "We just started recently. Dad, please don't be mad. We were going to tell you…"

"When?!"

"That's what we were trying to figure out. Because we didn't want you and Nora to split up, or split us up, or hate us for it, or…" Derek's words just died as he slumped down on the garage floor and leaned back against the car. He was so scared about what would happen next.

George knelt down on the floor in front of Derek. "Derek, why would you think that?"

Derek just shrugged his shoulders.

"Derek, you're my son. You may do a lot of things that get on my nerves, but there is nothing that you can do that will ever make me stop loving you" George said. "Remember the other night, when you asked me what I was thinking about?"

Derek slowly looked up. "Yeah."

"I was thinking about how well you two have started to get along since Casey's family moved in. Sure, you two still fight and everything, but I can tell the difference."

"Okay."

"Just between you and me Derek, Nora and I had discussed the possibility of something like this happening."

A shocked look swept across Derek's face. "What?!"

"I mean, we've taken a set of hormonally driven teenagers and placed them under the same roof. We hoped that you two would grow to accept each other as family and nothing would ever happen between either of you, but we at least wanted to be aware of that possibility."

Derek then found his voice long enough to say more than one word. "Dad, I love Casey. I can't explain how it happened, but I love her."

"Keep in mind, if anything happens between you two, you're going to have to the consequences that it's going to have on everybody."

"I know that Dad. That's why I'm not going to screw up like I've done in the past. I promise."

George grabbed Derek in a hug and pulled him back up to his feet. "If you feel that strongly, then I'll support the two of you."

"Thanks Dad" Derek muttered before walking to the door and heading back into the house. As he walked into the kitchen, Casey walked out of the door from the basement. He could tell that she had been crying. "Case…" Casey ran over to him and threw her arms around him. For several minutes, they just stood there, locked in each other's arms. "Are you okay?" he finally asked her.

"Mm-hmm" was her only response. He looked up to see that Nora and George were staring at them.

"Nora…" Derek started.

"I just wished that you two would have told us sooner. I don't like the idea of my daughter keeping things from me" Nora said.

"Wait, so you're okay with this too?"

Casey looked up after Derek asked his question to Nora. "Too? You mean George is alright with it?" Derek nodded his head in response.

"Of course, there are going to be some ground rules. We'll discuss those tomorrow. Right now, we all need some sleep" George said.

"Good night, Mom. Good night, George" Casey said.

"Good night, you two" Derek said.

"Good night kids" George and Nora said in unison. Before they could disappear down the stairs, Casey stopped them.

"Mom. George."

"Yes, dear?" Nora asked.

"Thank you for understanding."

All four just exchanged glances before leaving the kitchen. Derek and Casey, both exhausted from the evening and the confrontation with their parents, drug themselves into the living room and up the stairs. As they reached their respective rooms, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her another kiss.

"Good night, Casey. I love you."

"I love you too, Derek"

With that, both of them entered their rooms and collapsed on their beds. Finally, it was all out in the open. The world didn't erupt into mass hysteria. No natural disasters. When it was all said and done, there were just two people that had finally discovered the one person they couldn't live without.

* * *

After getting it all out in the open, things started going a lot smoother for Derek and Casey. Sure, they still fought over stupid stuff, but nobody could deny how happy they were. She became his good luck charm at hockey games, while he became her good luck charm at dance recitals. He started to tone down some of his irresponsible behavior, while she started to loosen up and enjoy going out more. They even started to do homework together; the excuse was to make sure Derek's grades didn't slip, but it just gave them a better reason to be closer together. Derek sealed the deal in proving his loyalty to her by going out of his way to make Junior Prom the dream moment that Casey had always wanted. They were even chosen to be prom king and queen by their classmates.

Anybody that knew them didn't have the nerve or felt the need to try and split them up – it was much safer with these two as a couple instead of bickering stepsiblings. Having said that, there was one little problem at school that they ended up having to deal with…

* * *

(A few months later)

A young man leaned against one of the walls at Thompson High School, watching as Casey and Emily talked to each other at the bottom of the stairwell. He developed a slight smirk on his face before walking by them.

"So, who's the new guy?" Casey asked.

"Hmm, let's see what I got" Emily replied, grabbing her trusty notebook. "He moved here from Toronto, he went to a private school, and he goes by Truman."

"Hey, I'm from Toronto and I went to a private school" Casey said excitedly.

"I'm very sure that Derek would want you to stay away from this guy. He's a total zero. He's only been here three days and has already rated every girl in our grade" Emily states.

"What?! That is outrageous and ridiculous and demeaning…!"

"And the asshole had the audacity to rate give you a rating of six and a half" Derek said, walking up to Emily and Casey.

"What?! That is outrageous and ridiculous and demeaning…!"

"And very stupid" Derek added. "I know what he's trying to do."

"Really?" Emily asked.

"He's just trying to get Casey's attention by being a jerk."

"How do you know all of this?" Casey asked.

"I used to be like that before a pretty blue-eyed angel – who is a 10, I might add – came and straightened me out." Casey smiled at Derek's complement. "Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to have a little chat with our little friend."

"Derek, be nice" Casey called out as Derek walked down the hall.

"Can't promise you that" he replied back before disappearing down the hallway. He eventually found the person he was looking for – looking at more girls. "So, you must be the new guy!" he exclaimed, slapping an arm around Truman.

"Uh, do I know you?"

"I'm Derek, hockey captain, king of the school, and self-proclaimed welcome guide. Come let's talk" he said, pulling Truman down the hall. "So, uh…"

"Truman" the new guy replied, wearing a smirk across his face.

"Right. So I've seen that you've taking a liking to the female population here" Derek said.

"Well, what can I say? There are a lot of beautiful girls here" Truman said.

"Right. Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about – the girl that you gave a 6 and a half rating to." By now the fake smile that Derek was wearing disappeared.

"Oh, right! The girl that was sitting by the stairs, uh…"

"Casey."

"Right! Well, you see, I've…"

"Please, let's cut out the bullshit and get down to business. Nobody in their right mind would give her a 6 and a half rating" Derek said.

"I know. It's all part of my little plan to…"

"Make her jealous, get her attention, and eventually try to win her over. How close am I?" Derek looked and saw that Truman's smirk cracked a little. Perfect.

"How…?" was all Truman got out of his mouth.

"I used to be like you once, before I met Casey." Truman's smirk faded a little more.

"So, you two are friends?"

"Yes. The type of friends that go out on dates, support each other at hockey games and dance recitals, get assignments done, and share the occasional intimate moment." Truman's smirk was definitely gone now.

"Hey look, man…"

"Now, listen once and listen good, you sorry low-life perverted asshole. My girlfriend is off-limits, and if you ever try to do anything to steal her away or hurt her, you'll have to change your name to Trudy when I'm done with you. Got it?"

Truman could only nod his head in response. He would've said something, but he noticed the group of hockey and football players down the hall staring at them, waving at Derek and giving Truman murderous gestures. He let out a loud gulp.

"Good" Derek said, giving him a pat on the back and walking off. "Well, that's it for the tour. Hope you enjoy life here at Thompson High."

* * *

A/N: Only two more chapters left to go! Stick around to see how it ends. Oh, and for the record, I've got something else lined up for Truman to start off the next chapter.

Until next time, take care and be safe.  
- the OD


	14. Making Dreams Become Reality

A/N: Over 16000 hits! It's official - I love you guys! Thanks for the support!

Okay, this chapter started out quickly for me, then slowed up because off one scene that I wanted to make sure was just right. The end result - the longest chapter of the story so far (over 4000 words). There is a little more Truman-bashing in this one. Also, this story is based around "March Break" (since many people considered that the top Dasey episode of season 4) and includes some of the original dialogue. Also, if you notice anything format-wise that doesn't seem right in the first few chapters, let me know b/c I went back to fix some grammatical errors and name errors (since they decided in season 4 to make it 'McDonald' instead of 'MacDonald').

Disclaimer: ...I'm not even going to say it...

Now, on with the show!

Another A/N: If you haven't figured out from the chapter title what's going to happen in this chapter, I'm going to beat you over the head with a hammer! J/K! Enjoy.

* * *

Paul sat in his office, quietly sipping on a cup of coffee. It was a quiet Friday morning, a week before March Break was to begin. '_Ah. So peaceful_' he thought to himself.

His days had grown more peaceful ever since Casey began dating Derek. Her visits didn't occur as frequently, but he still had the joy of a visit regarding an upcoming academic event or about a silly fight with Derek. Just as that thought ran through his head, Casey came storming into his office.

"Casey, what a pleasant…"

"I can't believe him! I'm going to kill him!" Casey yelled out.

"Look Casey, calm down and just explain to me what Derek did…" Paul started.

"It's not him I'm mad at as much as I am Truman! That sorry lowlife hit on me, trying to ask me out on a date! Even after he was warned not too! Ugh!" Casey added a dramatic effect, shaking her body to exaggerate how disgusted she was.

Paul was stunned. "So…if it's this Truman guy you're mad at, then where does Derek factor into this?"

"I'll show you" Casey said, motioning for Paul to stand up and walk out into the hallway. Principal Lassiter, along with a few students, had gathered around as the janitor was prying a locker open. As the locker door popped open, Truman tumbled out onto the floor. His clothes and hair were disheveled and he appeared to be sporting a black eye. It was just at that moment that Derek walked by.

"Wow, that's a neat trick!" Derek exclaimed. "Can you teach me that?!"

Truman immediately sprang to his feet and backed up toward Principal Lassiter. "You're a freaking psycho, Venturi!"

Principal Lassiter immediately turned to Derek. "Did you have something to do with this, Mr. Venturi?"

"Sir, I have no idea what he's talking about" he replied back in a cool tone.

"That's a lie! He roughed me up, then had some goons shove me in there!" Truman yelled back.

"Mr. French, why don't we go to my office and get this issue resolved" Principal Lassiter said as he took Truman by the arm and led him down the hall, with the crowd dispersing soon afterward. As soon as the principal was out of sight, Derek began laughing.

Casey walked over and slapped him on the arm. "Der-ek! How could you?!"

"What?! It was funny!" Derek said between laughing fits. "Hey, at least now he got the message about leaving you alone!"

Casey was about to slap him on the arm again before the sound of another person laughing caught her attention. "Paul?!"

"I'm sorry Casey. After all our conversations, I never really pictured Derek as the jealous type" Paul said before resuming his laughing.

* * *

(One week later)

"Everyone's going somewhere great this March Break…expect me" Emily moaned as she and Casey stood up against a wall, watching the other students walk down the hallway.

"And me" Casey said.

"Well, at least you'll have Derek to keep you company" Emily said. She had been lonesome ever since Sheldon's family moved to Newfoundland.

"C'mon Em, we still have each other. Hey, why don't we start our own little book club?" Casey said excitedly.

"Reading during spring break? Well, at least being with Derek hasn't changed you too much" Emily said.

**in an empty classroom down the hall**

"Dude, I can't wait for the party to end all parties!" Sam exclaimed as he gathered his belongings.

"I know! It's going to be sweet!" Derek let out.

"Hey, that sounds a lot better than my party. Should we go?" Ralph said. Sam and Derek just face-faulted.

"Uh, dude, the party is your party" Derek said.

"I'm throwing the party to end all parties?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah" Sam and Derek said.

"I'm the man" Ralph let out.

"Well, too bad 'Lover Boy' won't be able to get a kitchen pass" Sam said, nudging Derek in the side.

"Please, I'll think I will be able to convince Casey to attend the party to end all parties" Derek said.

"You better have something good lined up for Casey to let you come to this one" Ralph said. He and Sam noticed the smile that was crossing Derek's face – the one he usually got when he was planning something big. "Dude, you do have something planned! C'mon, what is it?!"

"Ralphie, my boy, that is classified information. Now, I need to get Princess Casey home while you two need to get everything together for the party." With that, all three got up and exited the room.

* * *

(The next morning)

Casey waltzed down the stairs in her pajamas and a bathrobe, while Derek was sitting in his recliner eating a gigantic bowl of cereal with a wooden spoon. George had planned a surprise family trip to Quebec City for March Break. Derek chose not to go so that he could attend Ralph's party and prepare his little surprise for Casey. Casey stayed on the premise that Derek (despite the changes he made in recent months) couldn't be trusted in the house by himself.

"I'm still really not happy about this" Nora said as she walked up to Derek and Casey.

"Relax Nora. I'm sure you'll have fun on your trip somehow" Derek muttered out through a mouthful of cereal.

"I am talking about you and Casey staying home alone!" Nora replied, hands on her hips.

"It's okay Mom. I'm going to be spending time over at Emily's" Casey reassured her.

"Yeah, and I'll just chill at Ralph's" Derek stated.

"Besides, we know the rules that you and George have for us concerning our dating" Casey added.

"Nora, let's go!" George called out from the back door.

Nora pushes back on Derek's chair, making it to where he can face her. "Now I'm only going to tell you once…"

"Yeah, we know. No parties and meatloaf's in the fridge and, oh, water the fergus" Derek said.

"The ficus" Nora corrected.

"What about the fergus?"

"What's a fergus?"

"What's a ficus?" Nora let out an exasperated sigh at Derek's question and released the back of his chair, causing him to straighten back up.

"One more thing…" she starts before being cut off.

"Mom. Don't worry" Casey said, trying to reassure her.

Nora just put her hand to her forehead. "It's too late. Now, since you two are still the same, despite the dating…if you guys fight, break any rules, or if there's any damage to this house, you're going to lose your clothing allowance…" Casey's eyes widen at this. "And you are going to lose your gas allowance…" Derek leaned his chair back to stare at her. "Forever. Good luck."

"You too" Casey replied, giving her Mom a hug.

"And I'm going to miss you too" Nora said, placing her hand on Derek's shoulder.

"I'll miss you lots" Derek said before returning to his bowl of cereal.

Nora looks at Casey. "Have fun." She then looked at Derek. "Don't let him have too much fun." With that, she headed for the back door, leaving Casey and Derek alone in the living room.

* * *

(A couple of hours later)

'_Damn, this sucks_' Derek thought as he sat on his bed. Ralph had called him and told him about a family trip to Mexico. '_Seriously, how do you forget about a trip to the Yucatan?! Could be worse. He could be like Sam, stuck on a hiking trip with his dad, or in a car bound for Quebec City with my dad behind the wheel._' He looked over at the wall dividing his room from Casey's. Emily's family had gotten a cheap vacation package to Aruba out of the blue, causing her to ditch the plans for the all-girls weekend. He could imagine her sitting there, just reading her book all alone…

"Wait a minute. What the hell am I doing sitting here?" he asked himself. "I've got a huge plan lined up to surprise Casey. There's no time like the present." Grabbing his keys and cell phone, he quietly made his way downstairs and out of the house.

* * *

(6:35 P.M.)

Derek finished putting the last touches on the dining room table with one hand, while the other hand was holding his cell phone to his ear. "No, no, she should like everything. Thanks Sally. I owe you and Max big time for helping me out with this. Okay, bye." Hanging up the phone, he gave everything one last glance. Now it was time to set the final part in motion. He heard Casey leave her room and walk into the bathroom. He quickly made his way to her room and swiped the book that she was reading. He then went and flopped himself down on his bed to wait for her return. After a couple of minutes, Casey came into the room.

"Derek, have you seen my book?" she asked, looking around the room.

"What's a book?" he asked, flipping through the pages of a Sports Illustrated.

"You know, those things you never read" she sassed back. "I can't find 'Sisters of the White Cave' and I have to find out what happens at the end."

"I don't know" Derek said.

"Don't play stupid with me Derek. We're the only two people in the house. Now, tell me where my book is or I'll stuff your hockey card collection into the toilet."

"Okay, you got me. I was going to throw it in the trash, but I set it down on the dining room table while I was working on something else."

"Der-ek!" Casey whined as she stomped out of the room and down the steps. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she was stopped dead in her tracks by what she saw. There was a vase of roses flanked by several lit candles. There were two places at the table set, complete with dinner, dessert, and drink. Soft music was playing in the background – she recognized it as one of her CDs. "Oh my God, this is so…!"

"Amazing" Derek finished her sentence as he stepped behind her. "I know."

"I can't believe that you did this!" Casey exclaimed, grabbing him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Then I guess you'll enjoy the movies. I picked out a couple of your favorites" he added, pointing at a plastic bag nearby.

Casey kissed him passionately. "This is incredible! Thank you so much!"

"Well, shall we continue on with the evening, my dear" Derek said, holding out his hand. Casey placed her hand in his and allowed him to guide her to the table.

* * *

(10:37 P.M.)

"That was so beautiful" Casey cried as she wiped away tears from her eyes. Surprisingly, Derek had rented two of her romantic-comedies for them to watch.

"Please, no more tears" Derek begged. Why did he get those movies? At least he rented about ten action and horror movies to serve as a remedy for next week.

Casey let out a yawn and stretched her arms out. "Well, I guess it's time for bed."

"Awww, so soon" Derek said, pretending to pout.

"Well you can tuck me in" Casey teased. Derek got up and, after helping Casey to her feet, led her upstairs. As they reached their rooms, Derek gave Casey a kiss.

"Good night." He tried to walk to his room, but Casey maintained her grip on his arm. "Uh, Case…"

"I said it's time for bed" she said seductively. Derek then noticed the mischievous look on her face.

"Who are you and what have you done with Casey?" he asked. Casey immediately twisted his nipple. "Ow! Okay, you're still you."

"I want you to stay with me tonight" Casey said, before giving him a kiss.

Derek immediately took Casey up into his arms, while she wrapped her legs around his body. Derek carried her into her room, setting her down on the bed and planting kisses on her lips, cheek, and neck. "You sure about this?"

Casey just nodded her head. Derek leaned in to kiss her again. As their tongues battled for dominance, his slid his hands up underneath her shirt. His fingertips slid up her sides, causing her to break out into giggles. As his arms pushed her shirt up further, his hands began the process of pulling her shirt out of the way. Casey held her arms up above her head, allowing Derek to pull the shirt off without any problems. As soon as he tossed it off to the side, she began to pull at the bottom of his shirt. It got stuck at his arms, causing Casey to let out a growl. Derek took one hand and reached behind his head, yanking the t-shirt over his head. Her hands glided along his arms as she finished removing his shirt.

With the shirts now out of the way, Derek trailed kisses from Casey's neck down to her collarbone and even further to the swells of her breasts just above her bra. Easing his hands back underneath her body, he undid the clasp of bra. He eased it off of her and tossed it to the side. As he looked back at her, he froze at the sight of Casey lying beneath him topless. In his dreams, he had always imagined how perfect her breasts would be – his dreams didn't do the current situation justice.

"Derek?" Casey asked from beneath him.

He leaned back into her and gave her a light kiss on the lips before whispering into her ear. "You're so beautiful." The feel of his breath on her ear sent shivers down Casey's spine. He again trailed kisses down her neck and chest until he reached her breasts again. He took her right nipple into his mouth, while his right hand massaged her left breast.

Casey bit down on her finger, trying to suppress the moan building up inside her. "Oh, Derek."

Derek loved the way his name sounded as she moaned it out (of course, he liked it just about every other way she said it too, including the emphasized two syllable yell). He switched off to her left breast, taking that nipple into his mouth as his right hand slid down her toned stomach and eased its way beneath the waistband of her pants. Casey let out louder moans as his fingers rubbed up and down against her panties, arching her body off of the bed in response to the sensations flooding her body. Derek could feel the wetness forming between her legs. He was about to continue further, but Casey began to push against him.

"Case, what the…" he started before he suddenly found himself lying on his back, with Casey positioned on top of him and kissing him with increasing ferocity while her hands fumbled with his jeans. He didn't know what he had just awakened in her, but he wasn't going to complain. Finally, she succeeded in unfastening his belt and pants. Casey mimicked what Derek had done earlier, trailing kisses down his neck and chest. However, she didn't stop there. She continued further, placing kisses down his stomach until she reached his waist. Derek raised his hips up, allowing Casey to pull his pants and boxers off and tossing them out of the way. A loud gasp escaped her lips.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"It…it's nothing" Casey stuttered. "It's just a little…bigger…than I had anticipated."

"Casey, it's okay. You don't…"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. I want to do this." Hesitantly, she took his member into her hand, stroking it gently. Derek let out a low moan. Casey leaned down, lapping at the tip a couple of times, causing another low moan. She then eased the tip into her mouth, circling her tongue around a few times before slowly sliding her lips up and down on him.

Derek lost all awareness of his surroundings and everything else he knew – all that existed was him and Casey. He could tell by her actions that she didn't have the experience or confidence that some of the other girls he dated had in this department, but the warmth of her mouth and the velvet feel of her tongue on him was more than enough to make up for it. As time passed, she was able to take more of him and her movements increased in speed and intensity. Finally, he was unable to hold back any longer. "Case…it's coming" he moaned just seconds before he came. He felt her pause as she swallowed, then resumed for a few more seconds to make sure he was finished. Derek held his head up and watched as Casey her lips away from him, wiped off an excess drop off her lips with her finger, and licked it off.

"So…incredible. Where has this side of her been?" Derek asked.

"It's your fault. You corrupted me" Casey said in a fake accusing tone.

"Just for that accusation…" Derek growled, grabbing Casey around the waist and rolling her to her back. He placed kisses along her chest and stomach while his hands quickly undid the button and zipper of her pants. Hooking his fingers beneath the waistbands of her pants and panties, he pulled them off of her legs and tossed them to the foot of the bed. Derek paused for a minute, mesmerized by the sight before him. None of his dreams did this moment justice. There she was, the girl of his dreams – her brown locks spread out over her pillows, her ample breasts slowly rising and falling with each breath, the hair above her vagina neatly trimmed. The light from her bedside lamp provided a soft, radiant glow on her features. "God, Casey, you are perfect."

Casey shifted as he Derek placed kisses on the inside of her thighs before reaching his desired target. His tongue glided gently along her entrance, causing her to squirm. She let out a loud moan as his tongue slipped into her. Her back arched up off the bed and her hips rolled slowly as Derek's tongue swirled around inside her, and louder moans escaped her lips as he focused on her clit. With his right hand, he took his middle finger and slid it inside of her, while his left hand eased slowly up her body before settling on her right breast. "Yes…oh Derek, don't stop" she hissed as the lust-filled assault on her body continued. After a couple of minutes, Casey's legs began to shake uncontrollably. "Oh, Der-ek!" she yelled as the orgasm swept through her body. She collapsed back on the bed, trying to catch her breath as Derek continued to lap at the wetness that had escaped from inside of her.

As she lay there, she felt him crawling up her body, planting kisses along the way. She felt his body shift to the side, causing her to lift her head up. Derek was reaching for his pants.

"What are you doing?" Casey asked.

"Uh, getting a condom" Derek replied, as if it should've been obvious. "I'm not that careless."

"Forget it" she hissed, grabbing him by the wrist.

"But…"

"I've been on the pill for a while. Plus, I've kept up with my days. We'll be safe for tonight" she said, trying to reassure him.

Derek just dropped the pants back beside the bed and leaned back in to kiss her. As they kissed, he readjusted their positions, placing himself at her entrance. He slowly slid into her, while she wrapped her arms around his midsection. As he continued, he heard a sharp breath escape from her as he encountered resistance. He immediately looked up and stared into her eyes.

"Derek…" she whispered. He could read in her eyes what she was about to say.

"It's going to hurt at first, okay?" Casey just nodded her head in response.

With one deep thrust, Derek pushed himself inside her. Casey's body tensed up as she let out a loud yelp at the pain inside of her. Her nails dug deeply into his back, causing him to grimace in pain. A couple of tears escaped her eyes, which he leaned down and kissed away. After a minute or so, he felt her body relaxing.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I think so" she replied.

Derek started off slow, allowing for Casey to get adjusted to him and also to relish this moment as much as possible. He allowed one hand to ease over to her hand, allowing their fingers to intertwine. His other hand caressed her cheek before running his fingers through her hair. Her free arm wrapped around him tightly as low moans escaped from her lips. Casey bit her lip as the pain was slowly replaced by a pleasurable feeling.

"God, Derek. Feels…so…good" Casey moaned. Derek felt her long, lean legs wrap around his waist. He took this as a sign that it was safe to go faster.

Several minutes later, the entire house was filled screams, moans, and the sound of Casey's headboard slamming repeatedly against the wall. Derek was now moving with quicker and harder thrusts. His hands now held her hands in place above her head. He was kissing and sucking on one of her nipples again, causing her to arch up against him. Her thrusts now matched his in frequency and intensity. Derek had looked up at one point and swore that he saw her eyes roll into the back of her head. Both teens felt themselves going over the edge.

"DER-EK!" Casey let out in a loud, drawn out moan as her body trembled.

"Casey!" Derek moaned loudly as he let himself go.

After he pulled out of her, Derek collapsed on the bed next to her. For a couple of minutes, both of them just laid there, trying to catch their breath. Casey snuggled up against him, laying her head on his shoulder. "That…was…"

"Incredible" he finished. Shifting to his side, he leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. "You're so amazing."

"Don't say that" Casey replied.

"It's the truth" Derek let out. "No other girl compares to you, Case. Even when I dreamt about you, it wasn't as good."

Casey took a hand and ran it through his eternally messy hair. "Dreamt? You mean…"

"I know, I know. I'm a lowlife, perverted…"

"Wonderful man" Casey cut in. "You're better than anything my dreams could create."

"Wait, you had dreams too – about us?" Derek asked. "For how long?"

"Several months now" Casey replied bluntly. "You?"

"Probably about as long as you, if not longer" Derek confessed. Suddenly, both teens started laughing. "So, our family and friends predicted it…"

"Even our dreams had it out for us" Casey said. "I honestly think we were the last two to figure it out."

"I don't care" Derek said, pulling Casey's body closer to him. "At least I was able to figure out the best thing to happen to me."

Casey let out a light laugh at his before it was suppressed by a loud yawn. "Mmmm…goodnight" Casey moaned, snuggling up closer to him.

"Goodnight. Love you" Derek whispered into her ear.

"Love you too." With that, both teens drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces – exhausted and sweaty, but happy. Casey dreamt about being with Derek for the rest of her life. Derek dreamt about having Casey with him the rest of his days as well – and what position he could convince Casey to try when they woke up in the morning.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, especially the latter part. Next chapter will be the last, and will serve as an epilogue for the story.

Don't forget to leave a review.  
- the OD


	15. What Dreams May Come

A/N: It's finally here - the final chapter of "Mind Games". I can't believe that it's reached this point, especially since I had planned for it to be a longer story. Before I continue with the story, I just want to thank the readers for the success this story has had. 17000+ hits, 118 reviews, on the favorites list of 40 people, and the story alert list of 84 (as of this update). I'm blown away that people would take to this story so much. So, without further interruption, he's the ending of "Mind Games"

Disclaimer: You know the drill folks...

Now, on with the show!

* * *

The morning sun broke through the window in a spacious bedroom. Every item in the room looked like it had been placed there in absolute perfection, except for the pile of clothes and the gym bag at the foot of the bed. A set of pictures lined an otherwise empty wall.

The first two pictures in the set were prom pictures of Casey and Derek. The second picture had Casey singing into a microphone while grinding up against Derek while he was playing a guitar. Sam and Ralph could be seen playing their respective instruments in the background.

The third picture was of Derek and Casey sitting in front of a Christmas tree at their parents' house. Derek, wearing a white long sleeved shirt, had his arms wrapped around Casey's midsection. Casey, wearing a black Queen's University sweatshirt, was smiling brightly and holding up her right hand, showing off a diamond ring.

The fourth picture had Derek and Casey standing and kissing in front of a preacher at church altar. He was in a simple black tuxedo, while she was wearing an elegant white strapless dress. In the same frame below the picture was a copy of an invitation, requesting the honor of the recipient's company to the marriage of Cassandra Ashley McDonald and Derek Michael Venturi.

The fifth picture in the frame was of their wedding party. Derek was seated, with Casey sitting in his lap. Standing to the right of them was Sam and Emily - the best man and maid of honor. Emily had her head rested on Sam's shoulder, while he had his arm draped around her. Standing to the left was Ralph and Amanda. He was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her midsection. Standing directly behind Derek and Casey were Max and Sally, holding each other close and smiling brightly. And finally, crouched down in front of Derek and Casey was Edwin and Lizzie. They were making faces at the camera trying to be silly, but the camera didn't miss their hands intertwined with each other.

The sixth picture in the set was of Derek and Casey, dressed in black gowns and caps, surrounded by their family. George and Nora were standing behind their respective child, hugging them and smiling proudly. Lizzie and Edwin were standing to the sides, holding their siblings' diplomas open and giving the thumbs up gesture. Marti stood between Derek and Casey, smiling brightly. And in her arms was little Brandon, the most recent addition to their perfectly chaotic family.

The seventh and eighth pictures were separate pictures – Casey performing a dance on stage and Derek skating down the ice in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform. The final picture in the set was of Derek and Casey in their dining room. Sitting on the table was the Stanley Cup. Derek was standing beside the trophy, smiling brightly, one hand resting on the table and his other arm wrapped around Casey. She was standing there, one arm slipped around his waist and the other hand resting on the noticeable swell in her stomach.

Movement in the bed interrupted the otherwise serene quiet that was once settled in the room. Casey was lying on her side, staring at Derek's face, and shifting her body to make herself more comfortable. One of her fingers trailed over his bicep, outlining a tattoo that he had of an angelic figure with her name just below it. Finally, she whispered something. "I know you're awake Derek. I saw your eyes crack open a while ago."

Derek slowly opened his eyes. "Good morning to you too, Space Case." He reached out a hand, rubbing it across her cheek. He then took his hand and ran with across the blankets, over the swell of her belly. "Did you two sleep good last night?"

"Yes, we did" Casey replied, placing her hand next to his on her stomach. Derek's hand immediately reached over and gave her a playful smack on her ass. "Der-ek!"

"Yes?" he replied with a smug grin. Casey immediately reached down and grabbed between his legs.

"Dear God. Even when I'm pregnant, you're still wound up. Is there anything I do that doesn't turn you on?"

"Can't help it. It gives you more of those sexy curves." Casey let out a light laugh at his statement. Derek leaned closer and kissed her passionately. Both of them were so busy kissing and wrapping their arms around each other that they didn't notice their bedroom door open, or the two small figures (a boy wearing an oversized Maple Leafs t-shirt and a girl dressed in princess-themed pajamas) quietly making their way to their bed – one on Casey's side, the other one on Derek's side.

"HEY!" two kids yelled as they sprung up beside the bed, causing Derek and Casey to break away from each other. The two adults then pulled the two laughing kids into the bed, tickling them and kissing them on their foreheads. The boy favored Derek in his features, including the eternally messy hair, except for one department – his blue eyes. The girl favored Casey in her appearance as well, except for her dark brown eyes.

"So, you two think that was funny?" Derek asked, faking an irritated tone. Both of the kids exchanged nervous looks.

"Derek, don't do that to them" Casey admonished. "Michael, Melody, did you two sleep good last night?" Both children nodded their heads.

"Did you have good dreams?" Derek asked. Both children nodded their head again. "Whose ready for Mommy to fix some breakfast?"

"ME!" Michael and Melody yelled out at the same time. With that, they leapt off the bed and took off for the kitchen. As the ran down the hall, they heard something fall and break.

"Derek Michael Venturi, Jr.!" Casey yelled out.

"Melody did it!" was the young boy's protest.

"I did not! Liar, liar, pants on fire!" the girl yelled back.

"Melody Anne Venturi, don't yell at your brother!" Casey yelled out.

Derek laughed as the commotion down the hall. "You sure you can handle another one running around?"

Casey just looked over at him. "Honey, after everything I've been through with you, I think I can handle another child of yours running around causing mayhem."

Derek just hugged her close and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Derek snapped awake at the sound of his alarm clock going off in his apartment. He reached over to press the button to turn it off. Nothing. He pressed it a few more times, but the alarm was still blaring. Growling in frustration, he threw the clock down on the ground, grabbed a hockey stick that was propped against the headboard, and proceeded to smash the clock to pieces. He let out a satisfied laugh as he tossed the stick to the side. Suddenly, a slender hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

"What?" he said in a sleepy tone as he stared into Casey's glaring eyes.

"That was the third clock that you have destroyed this year" she stated.

Derek couldn't help but smile at Casey. Yes, he still loved the way he eyes sparkled when she got angry. Her head was propped up on her right hand, which allowed the sun to glimmer of the diamond ring on her finger. The sheet off the bed had shifted off her upper body, revealing her breasts – apparently, he wasn't the only one who didn't bother to put anything back on after last night's session. A sly grin crossed Derek's face as his left hand intertwined with hers. A glimmer shone off the gold bands on their ring fingers.

"I'll get a new one" he replied, leaning in to give her a kiss. They shared a quick kiss. Then another one. Then another one. The quick kisses turned into constant, passionate ones.

"Derek, we need to stop" Casey let out between kisses.

"Too late" Derek replied.

"We've got to get ready for class."

"We don't have class for another two hours."

"Der-ek" she whined in his ear as his kissed the side of her neck. His hand, meanwhile, slipped between her legs.

"Cas-ey" he mocked.

"Stop" she whined, squirming at the sensation of what his hand was doing. Finally, she couldn't resist anymore. Her lips crashed into Derek's, nearing causing him to fall out of the bed. "God, just do it already."

"Just remember, it's my choice this time." Casey rolled her eyes at Derek's statement.

"I don't care. Hurry up" she hissed.

Derek reached over to his nightstand to grab a condom while Casey got into position.

* * *

(Several minutes later)

Outside the apartment complex, a couple of people stared up at a higher floor as they could hear noises.

"Damn, didn't they get enough last night?" one person asked.

"I thought sex was supposed to decrease after you got married" another person said. He noticed somebody loading up furniture in a moving truck. "Hey, where are you going?!"

"I can't take the 24/7 fighting and fucking from those two anymore! I'm moving somewhere quieter!"

* * *

Casey was on all fours, moaning loudly as Derek thrusted into her furiously. His left hand was massaging her left breast, while is right hand had reached around and rubbed her clit, sending Casey into a sensational overload.

"Yesssss…oh Der-ek!" she let out as he continued with several hard thrusts before slipping out of her. Casey's legs gave out on her, causing her to collapse on the bed belly-first, panting furiously. Derek laid back down on the bed next to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. For a minute, he just laid there, admiring her flushed cheeks and the drops of sweat that had formed on her body. "So…what were you dreaming about?"

Casey's question snapped him out of his silent admiration. "Huh?"

"You had a huge smile on your face before you woke up. So, what was it about?"

"Something that we'll hopefully get to enjoy in a few years" he said, running a hand down Casey's exposed backside. "So, ready for round 2?"

"What?! You mean…" Derek nodded his head before Casey could even finish. "We need to get a shower or else we're going to be late." Derek groaned before slamming his head on the pillow. After a moment, he felt her shaking him.

"What?" he asked.

Casey gave a seductive look, holding a finger teasingly to her lips. "I said _we_ need to get a shower."

Derek sprang up as he caught her innuendo. Casey, recognizing the look on his face, scrambled off the bed and ran toward the bathroom, laughing. As he sat up to chase after her, he couldn't help but think about how much they had changed. They couldn't stand each other when they first met – they did everything to make the other's life miserable. He then thought back on the dreams and fantasies he used to have about her, and how they finally helped him realize his true feelings about her. She had been the cornerstone of his life – from the time they fought for the basement bedroom up until now, in their first year of marriage. Despite the good and bad times that they went through, Casey had always remained by his side – giving him support and helping him strive to be a better person.

He thought about the dreams that he had been having recently, about the two of them starting a family together. After being with Casey, he couldn't dare imagine being with somebody else to build a life with. She was the only person who could put up with him, and was very sure she was the only person who could deal with his offspring.

The sound of the shower turning on and Casey's world famous whine of "Der-ek!" snapped him out of his thoughts. He immediately got up and hurried into the bathroom. Pulling the shower curtain open, he looked on as Casey ran her hands over her body, the water from the showerhead cascading over her nude body.

'_As much as I love the thought of having a family, I really want to enjoy all the times like this that we'll have before we get there_' he thought. Stepping into the shower and pulling the curtain closed behind him, he took Casey in her arms and lifted her up. She slipped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist as he pulled her close, kissing her passionately.

***The End***

* * *

A/N: Okay, before I declare this story finished, I want to talk to ya'll.

Thanks to everyone that read the story and those that left a review (even the bad ones).

You guys and girls don't have any idea what the writing process was like for me, especially the more 'intimate' scenes. I really did my homework for this one, reading other works to see how people did scenes such as those so I could get a better idea of the direction I wanted those scenes (and my story in general) to go. Didn't want something to come across as corny, stupid, or completely unrealistic.

Now, the main question - where do I go from here? As I mentioned, I'm working on "Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek 2nd Edition" (the sequel to my previous hit fanfic), which will be coming in the next few weeks. Also, due to the success of this story, I'm thinking about dabbling in some more "M" rated fics. I've also got some more ideas bouncing around in my head for some more stories. Where all of this will go is up in the air, especially because my job has got some heavy workloads going right now, but I like to think I'm capable of putting out some worthwhile stories.

Until next time, take care and be safe.  
- OriginalDeadman


End file.
